A Tragedy In Five Acts 2: How Sweet It Is
by Seanchaidh
Summary: They say time heals all wounds, and Jack's wounds are certainly healing, but can he juggle the demands of a new daughter, an old flame and a new love alongside his recovery? And how will Ebony cope when things go from bad, to worse? All reviews welcome.
1. Prologue

**A/N: If you have not read Easy Like Sunday Morning, this story will not make sense. This is the second in a five part series. Please read Easy Like Sunday Morning first!**

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**How Sweet It Is**

**Prologue**

Jack sat by the edge of Ebony's four poster bed in the saloon in Liberty. He stroked her arm gently. It had been a month since they had arrived. Aeryn had only left two days before, giving Jack strict warnings that he had sighed at, but listened to. Jetta had left a week ago, taking Hope with her.

Everything had started out fine, well, once everyone was over the initial shock. After a week or so, however, things started going downhill. There were fights. Plenty of them. Not just between Ebony and Jetta, but between all of them. Skye got sick of playing baby-sitter when Jack wasn't feeling well and Jetta had to take her turn at work. Ebony tried for Jack's sake, but there was only so much the ex-warrior could take, although Jack loved her just for trying. The clincher came when Jetta tried to confide in Jack. She was upset about something Skye had said, Hope had been acting up and had only just gone off to sleep and there had been trouble in the bar: all bad enough on their own, but put together, they had her in tears.

It had been Jack who had finally got his daughter to sleep that night, so it had been Jack who was there when Jetta broke down. She had sat there, floods of tears rolling down her cheeks, holding her breath to stop herself crying out loud and waking her daughter again. Jack had taken her out of the room and into his own, where they could talk. She had told him everything that had happened that day, even though he already knew most of it anyway, then burst into another fit of tears. What else could Jack do but put his arms around her and hold her close until the sobs eased. Unfortunately, that was when Ebony decided to open the adjoining door to their rooms. The argument that ensued had woken most, if not all of the saloon residents, including Hope. The next morning, Jetta packed up her things and left, taking her daughter with her and leaving a note for Jack.

He had spent the past week trying to abide by that note. To believe her when she said that she would be back. To stay with Ebony and patch things up. To not worry about his daughter. It had got harder every day.

Jack leant down and kissed Ebony's lips gently. She stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake. Jack got up and picked up his pack. Taking a folded note out of his pocket and laying it on Ebony's bedside table, he slowly, quietly, walked out of the room, and out of her life.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ebony dreamed, fitfully. In her dream, she had seen Jack. He had walked into her room, sat down on the edge of the bed and told her he loved her. He had kissed her, but, just as the kiss was starting to get interesting, there had been a shot. Familiar laughter had rung out, filling the room, and Jack had fallen to the floor. As Ebony looked us, she had seen Zoot, towering over her, laughing like the madman he was, holding the gun. She looked down at Jack. He was dead, with dark red blood seeping from a wound in his chest, where the bullet had gone right through. Ebony looked down at her own chest. The bullet wound was there, not on the opposite side from Jack's, as it should have been, but over her heart, in exactly the same position as Jack's wound. Zoot leaned closer to her, so that they were almost nose to nose. He held the gun just above her ear.

"What becomes of the broken hearted, Ebony?" Zoot smirked.

Then he pulled the trigger.

Ebony sat up suddenly in bed, gasping for air. She shook herself. It was only a dream. Nothing more. Jack was sleeping safe and sound in the next room. Much as she may wish he was right next to her, for the time being the next room sufficed. She leant across to pour some water into the glass on her bedside table and her hand brushed against something paper. In the darkness, Ebony could just make out the shape of a folded piece of paper. She got out of bed, picked up the paper and walked across to the window. Pulling the curtains aside, she let the clear moonlight flood into the room. She could just make out the writing on the paper. It was a note. It was addressed to her. It was in Jack's handwriting.

Slowly unfolding the note, Ebony sat down in the box window and pulled a blanket round her as she began to read. The note was short and to the point, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

_Dear Ebony,_

_Before I say anything else, let me just say I love you, because I do. You have to remember that. The last couple of weeks have been the greatest, and the weirdest, of my life and would not change that for anything or anyone. But in those two weeks, I became a father. I have a daughter out there, somewhere. Another part of me. And I don't know if she's eating, sleeping or even still alive. I need to know if she's okay. Please try to understand that. I have to go and find my daughter and bring her back, if I can. _

_With all my heart, _

_Jack._

Ebony stared at the note for what seemed like an eternity. When she finally did stir from her thoughts, the sun was coming up. Ebony came to her senses. Ebony looked at the note. And Ebony screamed.

****

Jack walked right through the night. He had a lot of ground to make up. He had headed off in the direction in which a few of the regulars had mentioned seeing Jetta leave. Whether he would ever find her again, or his daughter for that matter, he couldn't say, but he knew he had to try. As the sun came up he settled down to make some breakfast. He had left a note for Ruby, explaining why he had taken the food and that he would pay for it when he returned.

As the day warmed, he found his thoughts wandering back to Ebony. She had been on his mind most of the night, but now she was there in a different fashion. By now, he thought, she would have read the note. Jack shuddered at the thought of a vengeful Ebony bearing down on his tracks like a petite Boadicea, then he corrected himself. She wasn't like that anymore. She was different now. And it was because of him. And for the first time in his life, he worried about her.

****

Jetta lay, wrapped in a thick woollen blanket, holding her daughter close to her. Eventually, she awoke, blinking in the pale morning sun. Winter was drawing near and she hadn't picked the best time of year to go roaming around the countryside with a young child. Her first thought was to check the fire.

Holding Hope close to her she stirred up the dying embers of the fire until the flames returned. As she fed her daughter and herself, Jetta looked around to get her bearings and decide which way to travel. She could either just turn and go back or carry on in her search for her tribe. They had been split up long ago, when the Chosen took over, but they were warriors and only a few, including herself, had been captured.

That was how she had first met him, about two years ago, in the Chosen facility. He had been taken to work on some science project. She had been set to cleaning the facility. She had never figured out just what he was supposed to be trying to achieve, she just knew that he seemed to be getting just enough right to convince the Chosen that he was worth keeping there and not in the mines. It was a skill that made him valuable, and that value gave him at least some power.

She had been lucky: many of the girls the Chosen had taken had been raped at least once. She hadn't. But that was for one reason and one reason only: Jack. She had been assigned to work in the same section of the facility as he had. One day the Chosen guard watching one of the doors had decided to have a go, but he had been stopped. He had been stopped by a skinny little geek that appeared to be a prisoner in one of the labs. He had been stopped by Jack. And because the Guardian didn't want Jack hurt, they had both got away with it.

Luck like that, however, doesn't hold out long. It was a few months later, when the Chosen were starting to get tired of Jack's many "near successes", that the guard had tried it on again. This time, a fight ensued. Jack wasn't much of a fighter, entirely hopeless in fact, but he gave the guard the distraction needed for Jetta to cut her hands and feet free of her rope shackles and hit the guard over the head with the nearest thing that came to hand. Unfortunately that thing had been the very stout wooden handle of her very solid brush and the guard fell to the floor, very dead.

That was when they had ran, just the two of them. They had carried on for days, not knowing what way they were going or where they would next be able to stop and rest. They were in entirely unfamiliar territory. The first few settlements they came to gave them food and water and some small items, but only in payment for their swift removal from their camp: no-one wanted two escaped Chosen prisoners in their midst.

On the fourth day, it nearly ended. They had camped for the night in a sheltered gully on a rocky hillside. When they awoke, they heard voices. Looking around, they had seen the robes of two Chosen guards, each carrying their scythe-like weapons. Because of the gully, they were trapped. The only thing to do was stand and fight: there were only two guards after all. Those guards, however, had weapons. Jetta had quickly wrested the scythe from her attackers hands and knocked him over: the young man had been poorly trained. He hit his head on a rock and she could see blood pouring from the wound. She had turned to face the other guard who, having knocked Jack out, now gave her his full attention. This guard was better at his job. He had disarmed her and was advancing towards her when Jack cannoned into him from the side. Caught off-guard, the guard slashed out with his scythe and opened a wound across Jack's body that was etched in Jetta's memory for life. She had taken the opportunity and hit the guard on the head with a nearby rock before rushing to Jack's side. Rummaging through the packs the guards had brought with them, she had found some remnants of food, a supply of water and, vitally, a vague and hurriedly put together first aid kit.

She had done her best to clean the wound and stem the bleeding, but it would be a day or two before they could be on the move again. She had dropped the bodies, and the remains of their packs, in the deep, fast flowing river below the hill and watched the current carry them away. When she returned to Jack's side, she saw that the wound was bleeding again. If this was the old world, a doctor would have had to use stitches to hold the cut together because it was so deep. In this world, Jack was just lucky the cut wasn't any deeper.

Jetta could remember a village, about three hours walk back the way they had come. It was a risk, but she needed more supplies for Jack, including something better than water to clean the cut with. She had left him, wrapped up and still unconscious, in the relative safety of the gully and gone back to the village. What she hadn't been given willingly, she stole before making her way back to the gully and Jack's side. When she got there, he was awake.

She had been as gentle as she could, removing the old bandages, but she could see the pain on Jack's face. The bleeding had more or less subsided and was starting to form clots along the line of the cut, but she still had to make sure the cut was clean. She had brought something from the village that would do that job nicely: alcohol.

Jetta had no idea when exactly she realised that she had fallen for her hapless saviour, but she knew he didn't feel the same way about her. Over the past few days they had talked about their tribes and one girl had been uppermost in Jack's mind. Her name was Ellie. He hardly ever stopped talking about her. That was why it had come as such a surprise when, later on that night, he had kissed her.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ruby was at Ebony's door in moments. Without bothering to stop to knock, she ran straight through and scooped up Ebony in her arms immediately. Slade wasn't far behind her, but stopped at the door and watched the scene before him: the Warrior Queen, kneeling on the floor, hugging her night-gown round her and screaming as Ruby held her and rocked her gently back and forth. Not knowing what to do he turned and headed down to the saloon.

Ruby continued to comfort Ebony for at least half an hour until the screams and sobs eventually subsided into a quiet, tearful sniffle. Pulling away from Ebony, Ruby saw that the girl's face was stained wet with tears from eyes that stared, dull and lifeless, at a point somewhere beyond Ruby's shoulder.

Ebony kept staring, unseeing, past her friend as she unfolded her arms and handed Ruby the note. She didn't see Ruby take the note and read it. She didn't hear her sharp intake of breath as Ruby reached the end of the note. She just kept staring straight ahead, thinking over everything from the last month. Eventually, she spoke.

"He left me," she whispered, her voice hoarse from the screaming.

"But he'll be back," Ruby said, her voice consoling.

"They always leave," Ebony frowned, "No matter what I do, how much I try to keep them. Bray, Zoot, Jay, Slade... Even Ram. I thought Jack might be different, though. Of all the guys out there I thought maybe, just maybe, he'd be the one that stayed."

"He'll come back, Ebony. He's only gone to find his daughter. He loves you: he said so in the note."

"They always say that when they're leaving and they don't want you to make a fuss."

"But this is Jack we're talking about here. Jack wouldn't lie to you. Not about that."

"Wouldn't he?"

"No. You know he wouldn't."

"Do I? I thought I knew him. Thought I could read him like a book. Then I found out I didn't. I didn't know the half of it!"

"Well, everyone got a bit of a surprise when Hope turned up. Even Jack himself!"

"Not Hope. Well, not just Hope. It was all the stuff we talked about and fought about on the way here too. The music. His family. The arguments we had. The snake. That fight just before we got here."

"So there was a lot you didn't know. That doesn't mean that what you did know wasn't real. He's a good guy, Ebony. A nice guy. And nice guys don't grow on trees! He'll come back."

"No," Ebony replied, turning slightly to focus on Ruby with chilling certainty. "He won't."

****

Jetta hurried on her way. She was beginning to recognise the area now. It had been two years and more since she was last in the area and there was no way of knowing whether her tribe would still be here, but she had to at least look. She wasn't heading for their main camp: she was sure they wouldn't be there any longer. Instead, she was heading for their hiding place: a secret place hidden in the depths of the forest to which they retreated if their main camp was no longer safe.

As she walked, she couldn't get Jack out of her head. She had been thinking of their first kiss since early that morning and now her thoughts were winding their way towards their one and only night together. They had spent another few days hidden in a cave in the hillside, near where Jack had been wounded. It had taken Jetta hours to find the cave but, the morning after Jack kissed her, she had felt it wasn't safe for them to be out in the open: Jack's wound would take a while to heal enough to travel and the Chosen would be sure to send more guards after the first two.

Once they were hidden away in the cave, Jack rambled on about this and that and what they should do next and where they should go and why they should head for the city to his old tribe. Jetta had listened to him. It was his way of proving to himself that he was still alive. His way of blocking out the pain from his wound. He had only quietened once, when they had heard shouts from outside, and when he was asleep.

After two days in the cave, Jetta had to go out for more food and supplies. When she got back, Jack was quiet and the fire was out. She re-lit the fire and hurried to Jack's side. He lay so still and pale that, for a moment, she had thought he was dead. She shook him a little and let relief wash over her when he stirred and slowly woke up.

"_Worried about me?" Jack asked, quietly._

"_Just a bit!" Jetta replied, sighing, and sitting down beside him, "I almost thought you were..."_

" _But I'm not," he cut her off quickly._

_A few moments passed in silence before Jack sat up and put his arm around Jetta's shoulders._

"_I might have been, though," he said. "If it wasn't for you."_

"_So might I, if it wasn't for you," Jetta replied, reaching up and taking the hand that rested weakly on her shoulder. "So we're even."_

"_I guess," Jack grinned._

"_You should be lying down," said Jetta, breaking another silence that had crept into the cave._

"_I'm fine!" Jack shrugged._

"_Maybe you are, but I need to change that bandage!"_

_Jack held up his hands in a sign that he surrendered and lay back down. Jetta laughed a little and began work on his wound. The cut was almost closed, but not yet fully healed. Good enough to travel anyway. The bandage stuck to the skin as she peeled it back. Jack yelped._

"_It can't be that bad! I'm trying to do this as gently as I can!" Jetta sighed, sitting back for a moment. "Besides, it's nearly healed!"_

"_Yeah, and I think the nerves healed first!" Jack pouted._

"_Here," she said, handing him a bottle of clear liquid. "I was keeping this for when I clean it, 'cause that's really gonna sting, but take a swig now and it'll deaden the pain a bit."_

Jetta smiled at the memory of the evening that had followed, then winced as she remembered waking up the next morning and finding Jack gone, with a note left in his place.

****

Jack hadn't stopped for breakfast. He merely tore off a chunk of bread and ate it and some fruit as he walked. He had heard some news of a blue haired girl and her infant daughter in the last village he had come to, so he was at least on the right track: they had stopped there for two days, then left by the north road out of the settlement. Jack wondered why they had stopped so long at the first village.

He had an idea in his head of where she was heading: she had told him of it long ago, when they first met. She had told him very little about her tribe, but when they talked of where to go, she had suggested a secret place her tribe used, in times of danger. The place was a valley, hidden deep in a forest. The only entrance was through "the curtain", but what exactly "the curtain" was, Jack couldn't say. He had a few ideas of what to look out for, but that was all she had told him.

The countryside around him was hilly and Jack stumbled as he climbed up the steep path before him. They must have come this way, there was no other path for them to take, but his mind kept filling with visions of Hope and her mother lying at the bottom of some ravine somewhere and his pace quickened. As he reached the crest of the hill, he looked around, hoping to see her safe and on the path, walking, but she had at least four days start on him and, as much as the gap had closed, it was still too wide to let him see her yet. His only consolations was that progress with Hope would be slow and Jetta would have to keep taking breaks to feed and rest her daughter, their daughter, whereas Jack could keep walking right through the night if he had to.

****

Lex wandered into the saloon in Liberty. It was nearly lunch time and he was hungry after his walk. Amber had been laying down the law and Jay had been poncing about telling people what to do as if he had a poker up his... But that didn't matter now. This was his bolthole. Out of the mall and out of the city, he could relax.

Jack had asked him not to tell anyone in the Mall that he and Ebony were staying in Liberty, let alone that he had a child, and, for once, Lex had done as he was asked. He had been itching to talk to someone about it, though. Now he was here, perhaps he could talk to Jack himself. He walked up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, wondering why it was so quiet. He almost laughed when he saw Slade hurry through in an apron, with two bowls of stew for two customers sitting at a table behind Lex.

"My, my," Lex chortled, "Now haven't you been trained well, mate!"

"Lex!" Slade cried, startled, on his way back to the kitchen, "You know I could really do with a hand back here..."

"No way!" Lex replied, laughing, "There is no way you are getting me in a kitchen! That's what women are for!"

"There's a free meal in it for you..."

Lex looked at the ceiling. He _was_ hungry.

"What do I have to do?" he asked.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jack carried on walking. He hadn't stopped to rest, eating as he walked and ignoring the persistent weight of his eyelids. It was dark again. He had walked for an entire day. Somewhere, out there in the night, Jetta and Hope would be settling down for the night. Perhaps they would already be asleep. That meant that, as they slept, he could close the gap between them a bit.

He had had news of them at the few villages and settlements that he had passed on his day-long march. The last had said that they had stopped for the night, so did one a bit further back. That meant that they were only three days ahead of him now, if that. They were certainly travelling slowly, but Jetta had a young child and, if what was left of her belongings at the Saloon was anything to go by, a substantial pack to carry. Things which would necessarily slow her down and make her take more breaks along the road. Jack had a bag of food and water and had walked almost non-stop for the best part of twenty four hours. If he walked right through the night tonight, keeping to the dirt track he followed now, he could maybe close that gap by another day. Maybe. He had travelled three times the distance she had in one day. Hopefully, by the end of the next, he would have found her.

As his eyes threatened to close once again, Jack's thoughts turned to Ebony. Was she still at the Saloon? Or had she come after him? If she was still at the Saloon, would she wait for him? Ebony was not the kind of girl to take a disappearance like his easily. Not from anyone, but especially not from him.

Jack shook his head. He was just being arrogant now. Why should he have had more effect upon Ebony than Bray or Jay or even Slade? He remembered how she had been when she lost them: angry, looking for someone to blame. But the truth was, that was Ebony: always angry over something. No, that was her then. Not now. She was different now: the trademark black and red leather had been replaced with softer coloured clothes and her makeup had changed entirely. Even her braids had gone! She wasn't angry any more. Or at least, she hadn't been before he left! Jack worried if she would go back to her old ways: hating everyone and only out to help herself. The usual front she put up: the Warrior Queen. Untouchable, like no-one could hurt her. The only thing that told you someone had was the fact that the front was there!

Stumbling, Jack gave up. He hadn't slept well in days, worrying about Hope, and the early start and long march had sapped his strength. He needed sleep. Even if he only slept for a few hours, it would give him more strength to travel further and faster tomorrow. Fearing to stray far from the road, Jack unravelled the blanket from the bottom of his pack and rolled himself up in it, falling asleep almost as soon as his head touched the roadside.

****

Jetta lay, curled up around her daughter, in a hollow between the great roots of a huge tree. She remembered curling up in a similar fashion when she was younger, feeling safe hidden in the feet of a tall, old tree. She knew this particular tree well: it was the tallest in the wood and was called the guardian tree. High up, hidden in its branches and only visible in winter, even then, only if you knew where to look, was a lookout platform. It was small, but big enough for someone to sit, stand and sleep up there. Lower down, in the midst of the thicker branches, there was a small hut for storing food, water and blankets. There was also a low bed for a relief lookout to sleep in while the other was up on the platform. If she hadn't had a daughter and a heavy pack to carry, she might have tried to climb up to it, but it didn't matter. They would be safe enough here for the night and then it was only a few hours walk to "The Curtain".

Or maybe it would be more, now. She had certainly travelled much slower than she had thought she would, if the last day or two were anything to go by. Ever since she had started recognising her surroundings, she had noticed how much longer it took her to get from one landmark to the next. At least she was nearly there. Either way, she would arrive at the valley tomorrow, whether it be morning, afternoon or evening. If she had enough daylight left, she might even make it to the camp in one day.

Jetta wondered what she would find there. There had been so many of them, so long ago before the Chosen, then the Techno's came along. She had returned to their usual camp long ago, but it had been deserted and she had turned back, heading for the city and their hidden camp. Liberty had been on the way and she had been there when she had heard about the Techno invasion.

Knowing then that she was pregnant, she hadn't wanted to risk the Techno's getting hold of her and her baby and had stayed hidden in the quiet little town. Soon, Hope was born and Jetta found another reason not to travel: her baby was too young. Besides, the Technos still roamed the countryside looking for new "volunteers" for their experiments. Everyone had heard of the labs. Everyone feared them.

Eventually the Technos were brought down and the small town of Liberty became busier. Ruby, the girl who ran the Saloon, had advertised for bar staff to help meet the demand of increased trade. Jetta had taken the job and had settled down for a bit. Life was relatively quiet and peaceful and there seemed no point in going looking for her old warrior tribe when she didn't even know if they still existed. Part of her didn't want to know. At least in not knowing, there was a chance that they were all there, in the hidden camp, and all well. If she went looking, she might find the camp deserted or worse: evidence that the Technos had found them.

Jetta's thoughts and reminiscences turned to dreams as she lay curled beneath the guardian tree. Dreams of the beauty of the hidden valley in springtime. Dreams of teaching her daughter how to climb the guardian tree and how to find the valley. Dreams of being reunited with her tribe. Dreams of her daughter being welcomed into the tribe. Dreams of teaching her daughter how to fight, the way the others had taught her how to fight when she joined them. Dreams of the future and how happy it could be.

****

Ebony lay in her bed, thinking about Jack. She hadn't bothered to get dressed that day. She hadn't even bothered to get up. She just lay there, thinking. At times, tears stung at her eyes and she let them fall freely: she didn't have the strength to stop them any more. Ruby had come up with some food, but it still lay untouched on the bedside table.

She didn't know if she had slept. She had hardly noticed the day passing, but whether that was because of her being lost in her thoughts, or if she had actually fallen asleep at some point, she couldn't tell.

Images of Jack flashed past her eyes. Some of their journey to Liberty. Some of him lying in bed with the fever. Some of him holding his daughter. And some of him with Jetta. Those were the memories she lingered on. Jack and the blue haired girl who had, to Ebony's mind, stolen him away from her. As she thought on Jetta, she felt the old anger inside her bubble up. The old Ebony, battered down inside her and kept hidden by the wish to be a better, more gentle woman for the man she loved, was returning. Unleashed by his absence, his desertion, she felt the anger take over. Yet again she had allowed herself to be hurt. And someone must pay!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jack woke early, at first light. He packed away his blanket and pulled out some food and water then, mechanically, carried on walking. The hope that he would catch up with Jetta and his daughter later that same day put a renewed vigour into his step.

The path was narrow and hard to follow, but he kept to it and, in a few hours walk, had reached the next village along the way. The news that a young woman, fitting Jetta's description and travelling with her young daughter, had spent the night there just the night before last increased Jack's hope of finding his daughter that day and confirmed that he was, at least for now, on the right track. As he left the village the road, which had widened when it joined with another to enter the small settlement, once again narrowed and he was left to wander along a dirt track that seemed to be heading decidedly for what appeared to be a forest. The land was more rocky and hilly now, but the dark line of trees in the distance was apparent and, in another couple of hours, unmistakable.

****

Jetta awoke with a headache and a stiff neck. Her daughter was curled up safe in her arms, but hungry and crying for her breakfast. Rousing herself and reaching for her backpack, she fished out the necessary items and began to feed Hope. Only once the child was satisfied did she break her own fast and ready herself for the last leg of the journey ahead.

Hoisting Hope onto her hip, Jetta made her way forward from the guardian tree. In a couple of hours' brisk walk, she could make out the sound of falling water amidst the usual noises of the forest. Gradually a stream became visible at the bottom of a deep gorge. Jetta followed the edge of the gorge back upstream, the roar of the water becoming ever more present in the otherwise peaceful surroundings.

At last, "The Curtain" came into view. It was a huge waterfall at least a forty metres high. As the water careened over the rocky precipice, it fell forming a shimmering, diamond curtain, obscuring the lower part of the rock face from view. Spray bounced back up the gorge to where Jetta stood, at about a third of the height of the entire waterfall, refreshing her face and encouraging her on to the final leg of her journey. Smiling, she made her way onwards, aiming straight for the side of the waterfall, along a path well hidden by autumnal layers of leaves. Just as she reached what seemed to be the very edge of the precipice, she disappeared behind the rushing, sparkling curtain of the waterfall.

Once behind the curtain, all sound from the forest seemed deadened and distant compared to the echoing roar of the fall itself. Although the light was by no means as bright as outside, Jetta could make out clearly, through the watery glow, the entrance to a cave. Hidden in a carved alcove in the rock, to keep them dry, she found some torches and a small box of matches. Placing her daughter on the floor of the cave only long enough to light one of the torches, Jetta made her way deeper into the cave.

As the silvery glow of the waterfall disappeared from view, the cave widened into a broad tunnel. In some places the original walls still stood untouched by any human tools. In others, where the tunnel had grown too narrow for its purpose, it had been artificially widened to allow something the size of a horse and cart passage. In the gloom of the cave, illuminated only by the flickering light of the torch, Jetta's mind once again wandered back to another cave.

"_Maybe you should go easy on that stuff," Jetta frowned, trying not to laugh at Jack's slightly redder than usual face. "It's pretty strong stuff."_

"_I promise," Jack slurred, wincing as Jetta dabbed at the newly formed scar tissue. "I will lay off it if you promise not to do that again!"_

"_Do what?" Jetta asked, knowing exactly what he meant._

"_That!" Jack yelped as she started to clean another part of the healing wound._

_Jetta smiled and bit her lip to stop herself laughing out loud. Jack hiccupped, then winced again and took another swig of the bottle. Jetta sighed and reached forward and took the bottle out of his hands._

"_What'd y'do that for?" Jack pouted._

_This time, Jetta couldn't hold back the laughter._

"_Because," she giggled. "If you carry on like that, I won't have to worry about your wound killing you! You'll give yourself alcohol poisoning!"_

"_Ah," Jack seemed to consider this. "Well, now that wouldn't be good."_

"_No."_

"_So does this mean that you're finished torturing me?" Jack grinned, hopefully._

"_Nearly! Only a little bit left to do, then I'll put a clean bandage on it. You'll just have put up with the pain."_

_Jack sighed and pouted._

"_Don't look at me like that!" Jetta laughed. "Or I might be tempted to leave it as it is! Then you'd get an infection in it and you'd be in a heck of a lot more pain than you are now! Plus it could kill you!"_

"_You're far too serious, you know that."_

"_No, I'm sober! One of us has to be!"_

"_Why?" Jack winced as Jetta returned to cleaning the wound._

"_Because this needs doing properly."_

"_Why?" Jack grinned, watching Jetta concentrate on what she was doing._

"_Because otherwise you'll get an infection."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because..." Jetta realised what Jack was doing and looked up. "Will you stop saying 'why' all the time!"_

"_Why?" Jack laughed._

_Jetta threw a blanket at him and finished cleaning the wound. It was pretty much closed, she thought to herself. They would be able to travel once the sun came up tomorrow morning. She managed to re-bandage the wound without any further protest, but it wasn't until she had finished her work and sat back that she realised she hadn't heard anything from Jack since she had thrown the blanket at him._

"_Jack?"_

_No answer came and Jetta leant towards Jack's head, worried that he had hit his head or that the alcohol had taken too much of an effect upon him._

"_Jack?"_

_Suddenly arms grabbed her and swung her round._

"_Gotcha!" Jack cried, laughing._

"_You sod!" Jetta screamed, punching Jack in the shoulder. "I thought you were..."_

_Cut off mid sentence by Jack's lips on her own, Jetta froze. Slowly, she returned the kiss. As she laced her arms around Jack's neck, she felt him pull away from her slightly. Looking up into his, slightly unfocussed, eyes she saw him grin._

"_But I'm not," he whispered, gently, lowering his head to kiss her again._

After two hours' walk, a light could be seen in the distance. As the light grew brighter, it grabbed Hope's attention and she gurgled happily. Jetta smiled.

****

Ebony put the finishing touches to her make-up and headed out of the door and down the stairs. Ruby had brought her up some breakfast and told her, very kindly, that she didn't have to go down. Lex was there and Ruby would totally understand if Ebony wanted to stay out of his way, or, for that matter, the way any other Mall Rat who happened to turn up. Ebony had smiled sweetly, thanked Ruby for the breakfast and announced that she would be down shortly, Lex or no Lex!

When Ebony made her entrance into the bar, heads turned. The room went so quiet, you could hear Lex drop his glass. Out of the corner of her eye, Ebony saw Ruby's eyes widen and Slade take a step backwards. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. She could see the fear in the faces of the few girls in the saloon. She could sense the desire in the faces of the young men. Without even looking at him, she knew Lex would be eyeing her up and down. Everyone was.

"What's wrong Lex?" Ebony drawled, swinging round to face him, "Anyone would think you don't approve of my new outfit!"

"N-no, I wouldn't say that..." Lex stopped, sensing a trap in Ebony's tone.

"So you do like it then?" Ebony stalked round in a small circle to give him a better view.

Lex's mouth hung open as he watched Ebony turn. She was wearing a black leather catsuit with a low cut halter neck, no back and slits up each side of both legs as far as the thighs. Her red and black make-up was back and the pink heart shape on her cheek had been replaced by a red and black heart, broken into two jagged-edged halves and tipped at the lowest point with a red, blood-like teardrop shape. She looked stunning. More than that: she looked deadly. Lex shut his mouth again, unable to think of a reply that could get him out of the corner he had suddenly found himself in. Instead he made a small, stifled noise, turned and walked into the kitchen.

Ebony watched him go, her eyes narrowed and hawklike. Slowly, as he disappeared through the doorway, she smiled, then laughed. It was a mad laugh. Standing nearby, Slade heard that laugh and shuddered. He had seen Ebony in the deepest, darkest part of her madness. The only other people to see her that way had been her sisters and Jack. Java was dead. Siva was also gone. Now Jack had disappeared. Slade could understand Jack's wish to find his daughter: he had a similar wish himself. The point was, however, it wasn't Jack who had only just been brought back from a very destructive madness. If that madness was going to take hold of Ebony again, Slade could only hope it wouldn't have fatal consequences, for anyone!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The dirt track Jack followed met up with another as it headed into the forest. Torn between the two possible routes, one into the depths of the forest and another running parallel with its edge, the young father decided to stop and, for once, eat his midday meal sitting down. As he refilled his water bottle at a nearby stream, Jack replayed his memories of the time he had spent with Jetta after escaping from the Chosen. She had been trying to persuade him to go with her to try and find her old tribe. He wouldn't fit in, she had warned him, but they would help him get back to the city safely and perhaps even help the Mall Rats fight back against the Chosen. She had told him about little details of the route: landmarks that they would have to look out for. Jack knew that the hidden place where Jetta hoped to find her tribe was deep within a forest, but he had nothing but the path before him to suggest it was this part of the forest, or even this forest at all! Packing his things away, Jack looked along both paths, one after the other, before turning and heading into the dappled sunlight of the forest.

****

Jetta stepped out of the tunnel into the daylight. It was nearing midday and she would have to stop for lunch soon but, from where she stood now, she could clearly see the main part of the valley below her. There was a broad path winding down the cliff face from her left side to the valley floor. A river ran from a pool below the ledge Jetta was standing on, winding its way through clusters of trees and bushes. In the near distance, Jetta could see smoke winding up from the centres of neatly thatched, circular huts, clustered around a flat clearing to one side of the river. Beyond the huts, she could just make out the regularly varying greens and golds of cultivated land.

Turning to her left, Jetta began to make her way down to valley floor. The path beneath her feet was well kept and well used, so much so that, when she came to a sharp bend in the path, she found a thick rope hanging through metal hoops that had been hammered into the cliff face. About an hour later, not long after noon, Jetta reached the bottom of the cliff. The path ended by the edge of the pool, which looked substantially larger from ground level than it had from above, and became no more than the worn tracks of cartwheels.

Walking on the softer ground, between the tracks, Jetta moved forwards. She had barely gone two steps, however, when she heard someone order her to halt. Smiling knowingly, Jetta stopped and shifted Hope's weight to her other arm. The child looked around, bewildered, until two guards came forward from the nearby trees. One of the guards held a strung bow, with an arrow aimed straight at the young mother. Hope hid her face in her mother's shoulder.

"Nihil est quod timeas," Jetta called, calmly.

The two guards paused and the one carrying the bow lowered it.

"Since when do you fire on your own, Lana?" Jetta called again as the archer's brow furrowed as she tried to identify the young mother.

"How do you know our passcodes?" Lana called, drawing closer and squinting against the sunlight.

"As I implied," Jetta replied, "I am one of your own."

"If you are," the second guard called, "you should also know the meaning of the phrase."

"It means 'There is nothing you should fear' and is spoken in ancient Latin," Jetta answered. "I should know, I once taught it to this tribe!"

"Jetta?" Lana cried, suddenly, rushing forwards. "Jetta, we thought you were dead!"

"I am more alive than I was when I left!" Jetta laughed. "Look, I bring new life to our tribe: a girl child. Her name is Hope."

****

"Same again, Ruby!" Ebony called across the saloon, her words slurring slightly.

Ruby and Slade exchanged worried glances from either side of the bar. Slade got up and walked over to where Ebony stood, by the pool table.

"I think you've had enough for now, Ebony," he chided, gently. "Why don't you come have some lunch?"

"Slade, Slade, Slade," Ebony sighed, turning to face him with one hand on the edge of the pool table to steady her. "What's a girl gotta do to have a little fun around here?"

Casually, Ebony trawled her fingertips up Slade's chest. Slade sighed and rolled his eyes; he could feel Ruby's indignant stare boring into the back of his skull.

"You know," Ebony slurred, as seductively as was possible after consuming the best part of a bottle of Scotch, "if it's that important to you, we could always go and have a little fun together?"

Slade leaned back as Ebony leaned towards him conspiratorially.

"I won't tell the little woman, promise," she whispered, loudly.

"You know, sweet cheeks," one of the pool players called, "you could have a lot of fun with me too!"

"Who asked you, Jed!" Ruby called, coming to Slade's rescue. "Now get out of here, before you're barred!"

The pool player, Jed, held up his hands, turned and headed out of the saloon.

"And who invited you over?" Ebony sneered at Ruby. "Slade and I were having a private chat, weren't we, Slade!"

"Can't have been that private," Ruby shot back, "the whole saloon can hear you!"

"Aw, did I put a dent in poor little Ruby's pride," Ebony's voice became dangerously mocking.

"Er, Rubes?" Slade whispered, nervously. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Ebony," Ruby intoned maliciously. "At least I have some pride to dent!"

"Meaning what!" Ebony's, still slightly slurred, speech became sharper.

"Oh..." Ruby shrugged, carelessly. "Nothing!"

Turning to walk away, Ruby could sense Ebony's rage bubbling up to the surface.

"HRAAAAAAGH!" Ebony screamed, charging at Ruby.

Ruby carefully timed her step to the side that sent Ebony steaming past her at full speed. Unable to stop herself, Ebony went flying over the stool Ruby had been standing in front of and landed heavily. Slade and Ruby hurried to Ebony's side. She wasn't badly hurt, but the combination of alcohol, rage and colliding with the stool had exhausted her and, unprotesting, she let Slade lift her up and carry her up the stairs. Ruby flung the bar towel over her shoulder at Lex, who had watched the entire episode from the comparative safety of the bar, then followed Slade up the stairs.

****

Jetta, carrying her daughter, followed Lana through the small groves of trees and shrubs to the small clump of huts she had witnessed from the ledge. As they drew near, the residents of the quiet village stopped to stare at the newcomer. There were a lot of new faces, Jetta thought, but fewer old ones that she would have liked to see. Occasionally, a familiar face would frown, then brighten in recognition and turn to follow the three to their destination. By the time they reached the centre of the clearing in the midst of the village, there was quite a following behind them.

Lana stopped Jetta at short distance from the head of the clearing. Before them was a larger hut that, instead of being circular, was a thick oblong, indeed, almost square, shape. In a few moments, the heavy wooden door, which Lana had disappeared through, opened and three women walked out, with Lana behind them. The first woman, who stood in the centre of the three, stepped forward and held her arms open, welcoming Jetta.

"Welcome home, sister," she said, smiling warmly. "Welcome back to the valley of the Amazons."

****

It was the middle of the afternoon when Jack reached the guardian tree. He kicked at the remains of a small fire beneath the tree and surmised that he must be on the right path. The tree reminded him of one Jetta had spoken of and, if this was it, Jetta and Hope could have stayed there the night before and the ashes at his feet could be the remains of the fire Jetta had lit that very morning to cook their meals. He looked up into the tree. There should be a hut and platforms up there, if it was the right tree, but Jetta had said they were well hidden and couldn't easily be seen from the ground.

Turning back to the path, Jack made his way onward, further into the forest. His hopes of finding his daughter were raised: the fire had surely only been put out this morning as the ashes had barely been scattered by wind or forest animals. If he kept up a good walking pace, he might even catch up with them before dark.

The shadows were growing long, however, when he finally came within sight of the waterfall. He had heard the roar of the tumbling water for some time, but now he could see the fall itself. In the growing twilight, the waterfall did not sparkle as much as it had when Jetta reached it, but it instead cascaded down into the gorge with a golden hue. Jack was beginning to find it difficult to see the path, but he could make out that it headed straight for the waterfall.

"The curtain..." Jack mumbled to himself, smiling at the revelation that told him he was within reach of his goal.

Hurrying forward in the last of the daylight, Jack found the smaller path that snaked away from the one he was on and followed it to the edge of the fall. He could just see a darker shadow behind the curtain of water that told him there was a cave there. Eager to reach his daughter he hurried across the cutaway path leading to the cave. Once in the mouth of the cave, however, his face fell. The way before him was utterly dark, with no suggestion of how deep the cave could be or what dangers lay within. His brow furrowing in thought, Jack looked around him and spotted, in the last watery reflections of the sunset, the alcove containing the torches and, sitting dutifully beside them, the matches. He strode forward across the wet cave floor.

And slipped.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ebony woke up and groaned. Clutching at her head she sat up and waited for the room to stop spinning. When she eventually decided it was safe to look up, she saw Ruby sitting watching her. The blonde barkeeper raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Sorry," Ebony mumbled.

"You can't keep this up, Ebony!"

"Spare me the lecture, you're beginning to sound like Amber!"

"Gee thanks!" Ruby rose and brought a bowl and pitcher of water over to Ebony's bedside table. "Wash, drink, dress and you'll start feeling a whole lot better."

As she watched Ruby's back disappear out of the bedroom door, Ebony sighed, then groaned again: her hangover was getting worse. She reached for the pitcher of water and took the glass off the top of it, setting it down on the table next to the bowl. Pouring herself a glass of water, she lifted the glass. It slipped through her fingers and hit the wooden floor, smashing like an overfilled water-balloon in the summertime games of days gone by.

Ebony stared at the broken glass in a trance. It looked just like ice. She could remember seeing ice hanging in great, sparkling stalactites from the cabin where she and her sisters used to go skiing with her parents years ago. She remembered competing with Java and Siva to see who could knock down the most with snowballs. She remembered seeing the shards of fallen ice on the wooden patio, sparkling in the cool, clear sunlight as they slowly melted away. She remembered picking up the shards and feeling them, cool, against her warm skin. She was so warm now. So warm. If she could just feel the ice again, cooling her face, her neck, her wrists. She reached for the ice...

****

Jack opened his eyes tentatively. Everything remained dark. He couldn't see! Why couldn't he see! Panic began to rise in his throat as he sat up and looked all around him. As he caught the diamond shimmer of the waterfall curtain behind him, he relaxed. The light reflecting through the water was the silvery light of the moon and stars, but it was light nonetheless. Jack got to his feet and steadied himself against the wall of the cave. Feeling for the alcove, he found a torch and some matches and, after a few attempts, managed to gain a little more light to guide him through the cave. Finding his pack only slightly damp, he hoisted it onto his shoulder and, rather shakily, started to make his way through the tunnel.

****

Jetta sat around the campfire with the rest of her tribe around her. Beside her, Lana sat with Hope on her knee. She had been introduced to some of the new members of the tribe, including Vicky, the other girl on guard when she had arrived. Vicky was only a little younger than Jetta, maybe about 16. Her straight brown hair, cut to just above the shoulder, was brightened with green and blue streaks and long extensions. Here and there she had feathers braided into the streaks, which matched those on her dark blue halter-neck top. The top itself covered a see-through purple shirt with three-quarter length sleeves and contrasted sharply with a cream wrap around skirt trimmed with the same green in her hair. Her tribal markings were minimal: blue eyeliner and shadow surrounded her black eyes and a green lightning streak, outlined in the same bright blue as graced her eyes and hair, led down her left cheek to her dark red, painted lips. She had been wary of Jetta to begin with but, once Jetta's identity had been made clear to her, she had warmed quickly.

Jetta had caught up with old friends too. The three women who had officially welcomed Jetta home had known her from the very formation of the tribe: Alkaia, the leader of the Amazons and her two generals, Morgaine and Jewel. Together they formed one third of the Amazonian Council. Alkaia had the casting vote; she always had. Morgaine and Jewel would sit on either side of her at the Council Table with three more young women on either side of them. Jetta had once been a member of that council, but her place had now been filled by a young woman named Rialle, who had joined the Amazons in their fight against the Chosen and, ultimately, their return to the hidden valley. Rialle had not joined them at the welcoming feast and campfire, choosing to remain at a distance from her council predecessor until Jetta had re-established herself in the tribe. Instead, she and another young woman Jetta did not know, Charlie, had taken up guard duty at the lake while the others enjoyed the party.

"Don't worry about her," Lana told Jetta, with a conspiratorial air, "Rialle just prefers to sit back and watch for a while before she makes any moves. She'll probably come and make your acquaintance in a few days on her own terms, once she thinks she knows more about you than you do about her."

On Jetta's other side sat Leila, another member of the council. Leila was the youngest council member, but held her station as she had been with the Amazons since just after the virus and had quickly risen to the prominent position of Healer. Leila's parents had run a successful apothecary store in one of the wealthier city suburbs, where money and leisure had allowed a proportion of important families to indulge in alternative therapies for numerous medical complaints. Leila had spent many summers helping her parents in their shop, filling out prescriptions, restocking shelves and eavesdropping upon sometimes confidential consultations.

Jetta had known Leila ever since she herself joined the Amazons, but in the two years since she had last seen her, the younger girl had changed a lot. Her chunky cut brown hair still held her familiar blue streaks, but her outfit was much more grown up. Clad in matching, semi-sheer blue trousers and top, she was easily picked out in the crowd. Her top split open from just below the bust to reveal a bright sapphire resting in her navel, surrounded by an iridescent, circular blue flame. The shining paint matched the flame-like shadow over her eyes and her blue-painted lips. Much had changed in the young girl and Jetta couldn't help wondering if her personality had, or had not, altered just as much.

****

Stumbling a little, Jack stepped out of the dark cavern into the clear, starlit night. He could see the warm glow of a campfire in the distance as he looked out across the valley before him. Surely that fire would be at the hub of the camp, where Jetta and Hope would now remain until he reached them. Even now, they could be sitting round that fire with the rest of Jetta's tribe, sharing their evening meal. At the thought of food, Jack's stomach rumbled, bringing him out of his reverie and making him turn back to the path before him. In the flickering light from his dying torch he could make out the rocky walkway, sloping down the side of the cliff. Picking his way carefully, he headed down, into the valley.

As Jack neared the valley floor, his torch petered out. Left with nothing but the starlight to guide his steps, he slowed his descent considerably, keeping one hand on the cliff wall and testing each step thoroughly before he committed his weight to it. Eventually he felt the softer tread of earth under his feet and relaxed a little, only to stumble into the edge of a pool. Hastily stepping backwards, Jack peered into the darkness. On closer inspection, he could see the stars reflected in the shivering waters of a lake, with dark ripples inferring their way out from where he had stood only moments ago.

Looking around once more, Jack turned in what he hoped was the direction of the campfire and started walking. He could hear his feet brushing through the grass of the valley plain as he walked, then he took a step and the noise stopped. He took another few steps and found the noise of the grass returning. Stepping back a few paces, he found the silent spot, crouched down and felt the ground. There was no grass here: it had been worn away. Feeling the surrounding ground, Jack found the edges of the path. Once he was sure he would be walking away from the cliff and not towards it, he stood up, slowly, and carefully walked forward, listening to every step. He was so intent upon following the path with his ears that he failed to notice the two, slightly more solid shapes hidden in the bushes he was passing.

"Halt!"

Jack jumped at the sudden intrusion of sound, but stopped where he stood.

"Wh-who's there?" Jack stammered, trying to catch his breath.

A dark figure detached itself from the shadow of the bushes. It was followed by another, slightly more visible figure.

"We are Amazons," the dark figure replied, "and you may not pass."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Daylight seeped through the high window of the small round hut where Jack found himself imprisoned. He could vaguely remember his arrival in the valley, last night, when he was accosted by two female guards claiming to be Amazons. Jetta had never mentioned the name of her tribe, but she had said they were warriors and Amazons certainly were, by all historic accounts, warriors to be reckoned with!

Forcing himself up into a sitting position, Jack looked around him, blinking sleep out of his eyes as he did so. His hands and feet were bound, but there was no gag over his mouth. In the corner of the room, he could see a chair with a jug and bowl on it. They were made of metal, so he could not see what, if anything, they contained. Apart from the chair and what was on it, there was nothing else in the room. It was a small room, with one high window he couldn't have seen out of even if he were standing, and a single door in the wall opposite.

"H-hello?" Jack called out, tentatively.

There was a shuffling noise from behind the door and voices whispering, then there was the sound of a bar being lifted and the door swung open. The two guards walked in. One, a tall, dark skinned girl, wore a black, hooded cloak to keep out the early morning, and presumably also night-time, chill. The girl next to her was also tall, but with tanned skin and blue streaks through her long, brown hair. Most of her hair was held up with two chopsticks, but parts of it fell down around her face, which held an upside-down green triangle on the girl's forehead, with a blue rhinestone in the centre of it that matched the blue streaks and her dark blue lipstick. She wore a long, dark purple leather jacket over deep red leather trousers, a short black skirt, a dark purple, sheer top and a lighter purple corset. Jack could see the sleeves of the top extending beyond the jacket sleeves as they fitted round the girl's thumbs. Both girls held spears.

"W-who are you?" Jack asked, frowning.

"Tell us your name first," the darker girl replied. "You are, after all, the intruder! Then you can tell us why you are here."

"I-I'm Jack," Jack shrugged. "I-I came here looking for my daughter, a-and her mother. H-her mother took her w-without a word to me. I-I need to know where they are a-and that they're safe."

"Well, Jack," the girl stepped forward, letting her hood fall back as she did so to reveal short, dark brown and chestnut braids with curled ends and three stars, one red, one pink and one white, on her right cheek. "If they are with us, you can be assured they are safe, but no man has ever passed beyond this point in the hidden valley, and neither shall you. You have two choices: you may either remain here for the rest of your days, or leave the valley. You can go no further."

"I-I won't leave without seeing them."

"Then you must remain here."

"F-fine! J-just take these ropes off me and I'll wait here while you bring them to me!"

"First we'll have to speak to our leader," the other girl cut in. "And it would help if you told us the names of the two you are looking for."

"H-Hope. M-my daughter's name is Hope. H-her mother is called Jetta," Jack saw the two girls exchange a glance. "N-now will you take these things off me?"

"Not yet, no," the first girl answered. "It is not up to us which prisoners we release, it is up to our leader."

"You must remain here while she is consulted," the second girl added. "Then we will return and tell you her decision"

"F-fine!" Jack cried, exasperated. "Are you at least allowed to tell me who you are?"

The darker girl smiled.

"I am Rialle," she answered. "And my companion is Charlie. Now, if you will excuse us, one of us must return to camp to fetch our leader."

The two girls turned and left the room. Jack could hear the bar being slid back into place and footsteps fading away. He was alone again in the room with his hands and feet tied. He was uncomfortable, hungry, thirsty and starting to feel light-headed, but there had definitely been a spark of recognition when he had mentioned Jetta's name. They knew her. She was here!

****

"Ebony?" Ruby called through the door, "Ebony! Come on Ebony, open the door!"

Ruby had been up and about from the early hours of the morning worrying about Ebony. She hadn't left her room since Ruby had left her there the night before. Up until now, Ruby had been content to let her lie and sleep off her hangover, but she should be awake by now.

"Quit hiding, Ebony! Get out here!" Ruby called, deciding to try a harder tone, but still receiving no reply, "Right, that's it! I'm coming in there, ready or not!"

Ruby fished around in the folds of her skirt and produced her master key. She tried it in the lock, but found the door wasn't locked anyway. Opening the door fully, she peered inside. At first she thought that Ebony had got up and left while her back was turned, then she saw a hand and wrist lying just round the corner of the bed. Ruby walked forward, swiftly, to see Ebony lying prone on the floor. Ruby turned and hurried back to the doorway.

"SLADE! LEX!"

Hurrying back to Ebony, Ruby began tearing her skirt into strips and binding Ebony's wrists tightly. She was desperately checking for Ebony's pulse when first Slade and then Lex appeared in the doorway and hurried over.

"Jeez! What happened?" Lex asked, incredulously.

"Pretty obvious, wouldn't you say, Lex!" Slade retorted, helping Ruby lift Ebony onto the bed before turning to her and asking: "Is she still with us?"

"I'm sure I felt a pulse," Ruby spoke hurriedly, almost on the verge of tears. "But it's so weak! I'm so stupid, I never should have left her!"

"Hey, c'mon Rubes, you weren't to know!" Slade said, gently, placing a hand upon the distraught girl's shoulder. "Ebony's always been so strong!"

"Not always," Lex cut in. "Look, you guys seem to have this under control: what can I do?"

"Um... Uh..." Ruby's eyes flicked around, her mind finding it hard to focus on Lex's question.

"You could bring us up some fresh water and things to clear this mess up with," Slade answered, watching Ruby from the corner of his eye. "And maybe some proper dressings, or the nearest we've got. After that, if you could keep an eye on the bar, it would be a great help."

"No worries, man," Lex nodded. "I'll get right on it."

****

Jack's eyes were heavy when he heard the footsteps returning and the bar being lifted once more. As the room swam back into some semblance of focus, he made out the shapes of three figures entering the room. He couldn't make out their faces, but from the colours of their clothes, he guessed they did not include his guards.

"Jack?"

The voice that called to him was unfamiliar and, though low in pitch, decidedly female.

"Huh?" Jack managed.

"Give him some water," the voice commanded. "And untie him: he's no threat as he is and he needs to eat."

As the words echoed round Jack's head, the commands were obeyed and he soon found himself sitting, propped up in a corner of the hut, with a piece of bread in his hands and a cup of water being held to his lips. With each sip of the cool water, the world around him grew clearer until he found the strength to reach up and take the cup in one hand, then lift the bread in the other and bite off a chunk. His hunger and thirst satisfied, Jack looked up once again. This time he saw, more clearly, the figures of three young women. One, standing furthest to the left, reminded him in some way of Amber, another, the furthest to the right, though taller, stood proudly and arrogantly looking down at him. Immediately, Jack thought of Lex and that there stood a woman who would either beat him to a pulp or fall madly in love with him, or possibly both! Between the two women, a third crouched down to his level, looking him straight in the eye.

"Good morning, Jack," the third woman said, in a voice that proclaimed her to be the person who had spoken earlier. "My name is Alkaia. I am the leader of the Amazons. Behind me are my generals: Jewel, on my left, and Morgaine, on my right. Together we represent the Amazon tribe. I believe you have been searching for us."


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing. Your reviews are all much appreciated. I'm sorry for the delay but I've been rather ill recently and have had a bad few days. Hopefully it'll be back to a chapter a day soon. Please keep reading and reviewing and, if anyone is also reading "Is There A Place For Me?", I've also just posted a brand new chapter of that too.

* * *

Chapter 8

Lex kept one eye on the drink he was pouring and one eye on the guy in the corner: he had been sitting there nursing his drink with a scowl on his face that made a sick Ram seem like an angel of mercy! As soon as he finished serving the customer at the bar, Lex turned to the stranger.

"Something wrong with the drink, mate?" Lex called out across the short distance between them.

The stranger ignored him.

Lex frowned. He couldn't remember the guy coming into the bar, which meant that someone else had served him, probably Skye. He couldn't remember the guy ever saying anything either. In fact, he couldn't recall him even bothering to look up from his drink when a fight had broken out across the other side of the saloon. Lex looked around to check that Skye was still behind the bar, then walked over to the stranger's booth. He leant down and started wiping the table over with a bar cloth.

"Something bothering you, mate?"

The stranger watched Lex's profile as he cleaned the table, but said nothing. Lex turned to face him and the young man's faced creased in puzzlement, then slid into an expression of surprised recognition.

"I said, is something..." was all Lex managed to get out before the stranger jumped up and grabbed him into an enthusiastic hug.

Lex, startled and confused, but determined to keep his cool, grabbed the young man by the shoulders and pushed him off to arms length. Examining the stranger's face, he got the distinct feeling he knew the young man. He was a number of years younger than Lex, with light brown hair cut short and curling slightly.

As Lex tried to place him in his memory, the young man attempted to speak. His speech was slurred and at first Lex thought he was drunk, but the words did not sound like those of a drunken man and the stranger had only had the one drink, in fact, not even that. Lex's brow creased, then, with shock and joy, he managed to decipher what the young man had said.

"Paul?" Lex asked, looking the young man straight in the face to let him lip-read. "Paul, is it you?"

The young man nodded vehemently: he was Paul. Years had gone by since he had run away from the mall and his sister, but there he was, standing in the corner of the saloon in Liberty, confusing Lex.

"What, you know this guy?" Skye asked from the other side of the bar, where she had been watching the whole event with great interest.

"Yeah," Lex replied, turning to face her. "Paul was one of the original Mall Rats. He disappeared one day and we never saw him again. His sister, Patsy, was another of our originals: you might have heard us speak about her?"

"Only in passing. Why does he speak like that? He can't be drunk on what he's had here!"

"He's deaf!" Lex replied, defensively. "He can lip-read though, and he ain't stupid, so if you've got a question, ask him, not me!"

Skye shrugged her shoulders and went back to cleaning the bar. Lex sighed and turned back to Paul.

"Listen, mate, we really need to spend some time catching up, but first there's something you've got to know. It's about Patsy..."

****

Jack spent most of the morning in conference with Alkaia, Jewel and Morgaine. He was given food and water and his bonds were untied, but he still wasn't allowed to leave the room. Because of this, he was unaware that Jetta and Hope were only just outside the door, listening to every word he said as he recounted every detail of how he and Jetta met, in the Chosen laboratory, and what happened from then until he left to go back to the city; then how he kept almost leaving to go and find her, but always got pulled back by Ellie or Amber; then how the Techno's captured him and took him away; then how he found himself in Liberty, with Ebony, later to find Jetta again when he least expected to and with a daughter he had never known existed.

Jetta turned away from the door to Lana and Vicky, who had relieved Rialle and Charlie from their watch over the "prisoner" while another two Amazons had taken over the guarding of the valley entrance.

"He's determined, I'll give him that," Lana smirked.

"He's stubborn!" Jetta sighed.

"He wants to see his daughter: you can understand that, surely?"

"I know, but I want my daughter to be brought up here: as an Amazon, not a city kid!"

"From what we've heard so far, he's not just a "City Kid": he's a Mall Rat!"

"So?"

"So don't you know what that means? Haven't you heard of the Mall Rats?"

Jetta shook her head and shrugged.

"Should I have?"

"You remember the stories about a tribe of city kids who got rid of the Chosen? Who tried to restore some order to the city, just before the Technos arrived, then, eventually, got rid of them too?"

"Well, I hadn't heard all that, but I'd heard that it was one particular tribe who got rid of the Chosen."

"Yeah, well, that tribe was the Mall Rats!" Lana's eyes stood wide open in excited astonishment as she tried to get to grips with the fact that her friend had never heard of this prominent tribe. "News does filter through here sometimes, y'know? One of our newer recruits is even a Mall Rat! Well, I say new, she's been here almost a year now: we rescued her from a Techno work camp. She's on guard duty at the lake just now! You wouldn't believe the stuff she's told us about them; and from what we've heard, it's all true too! Plus, she's such a strong person: when we found her she was half crazy and next to death's door with what the Techno's put her through, but she's come right back from all of it! She's a real character too: you should meet her!"

"I will," Jetta replied in earnest, hoping to calm her old friend down before they were both discovered eavesdropping on their leader and her general's private conversation. "She'd probably like to know that a member of her old tribe is here too. What's her name?"

"Alice."

****

"How's she doing?" Ruby asked, timidly, afraid that speech alone may be enough to shatter Ebony's fragile grasp on life.

"She's still with us, that's the main thing," Slade replied, checking Ebony's pulse and breathing.

Ebony lay on the bed, her wrists bandaged heavily. The vastness of the four-poster served only to make her look even smaller as she slumbered. Occasionally, one of her two minders would check her vital signs, then make sure blood was still reaching her hands and her bandages did not need to be re-wrapped. For the past hour, Slade had undertaken this task alone, allowing Ruby some time to wash and change her bloodstained clothes before fetching Skye to help Lex in the bar.

Ruby stepped closer to the bed, sitting down next to Ebony's shoulder and facing Slade.

"Do you think she'll make it?"

"I don't know," Slade sighed. "All we can do is wait and see. She didn't cut any arteries or she'd be dead already: that much at least we can be thankful for."

Ruby nodded, silently, in reply.

"Hey, listen, Rubes," Slade put his hand on her arm, gently. "This is not your fault. Nobody ever thought Ebony would do anything like this: we all thought she was way too strong."

"But that's just it: she's _not_ that strong anymore!" Ruby insisted. "Ever since she fell for Jack, he's been her strength: he was everything she lived for and now he's gone. I should have seen this coming."

"But he's not gone for good: he said he would be back and Jack's not the kinda guy to lie about that!"

"Maybe, but that's not how it would seem to Ebony. She loves him. With all her heart and soul. She let go of all the barriers she had put up and let herself fall for him and now he's gone! Just as she finally lets herself trust a guy with her heart, he ups and leaves with barely a word to her about where he's going or when he'll be back; and in this world, who's to say he will make it back, regardless of his intentions!"

"Sometimes there are just things a guy has got to do, Ruby, and he can't sit around here doing nothing when he's needed somewhere else! Besides, whatever happens, he's at least made it clear that wherever he is, his heart is here!"

"Sometimes that's not clear enough! Sometimes he doesn't realise that while he's off zooming around everywhere, people are sitting here, working their fingers to the bone to keep themselves going mad with worry about him!"

"Sometimes people don't realise just how much they're missed. How much the person they care about loves them and wishes they could be safe at home with them, but there are other people out there who need them much more desperately than the people they love! You're safe here: you've got a good supply of food and water; a roof over your head; a way to make a living; even some medicines and contact with the outside world through traders who stop in here. There are people out there relying on me to bring them news of what's happening in the cities: whether the Chosen are back; whether the Technos are really gone; if it's safe to travel to the city to trade. Others are sick and need medicines from the traders, or food, but they're isolated and are too scared to leave their farms because of the dangers of this world. My little brother did a lot of damage as Techno Leader after Ram and he's still out there, somewhere, with Java: it's my duty to find him and stop him!"

"And what? You didn't think you could tell me all this? You didn't think that maybe, just maybe, it would make the waiting a bit easier if I knew where you were going and what you were doing and how long you thought you would be? You thought it would be easier for me not to know anything? A quick kiss before you leave was all I needed to know that you cared and would be coming back for me one day? You really think that's enough?"


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Ebony looked around her. Her vision was hazy. Everything was hazy. Gradually things became more focussed. She was sitting, curled up, in the corner of the porch swing-seat at her family's old summer house. It had been her grandmother's once, before she had died and left it to her daughter, Ebony's mother. Ebony looked down at herself. She was wearing a long, white summer dress that covered her bare toes. Raising a hand to her head, she felt her hair pulled back into two French braids down either side of the back of her head. Touching her face, she could feel that her tribal makeup had disappeared.

"Confusing isn't it," said a voice.

Ebony looked up. A figure was standing nearby, leaning against the door frame of the summer house. Although he was no more than a bright blur, Ebony could tell he was male by his voice: a voice that she rather felt than heard and a voice that she was sure she knew, but couldn't recognise.

"Am I... dead?" Ebony asked, hesitantly.

"Not yet, no," the bright figure replied, "but if you don't fight, you soon will be."

"What happened? I don't remember anything."

"That's normal. Neither did I for a while, but my brother was here for me and he helped me through."

"Your brother? So are you dead?"

"Yes, I am. But you have to understand, Ebony, it was my time to go. It isn't yours. You have to fight. You have to go back and carry on living."

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The figure stepped a little closer. He still shone with a bright, white light, but Ebony could make out a little more of his image than before.

"I know you..." she murmured, more to herself than to him.

"Open your heart, Ebony: look with that, not your head. Things work differently here."

Ebony frowned slightly, then closed her eyes and composed herself. Concentrating, she opened her eyes. The world around here seemed a little more in focus. She looked up at the figure standing before her.

"Bray!"

Ebony's heart leapt into her mouth as she looked up at the young man she had known for so long. His tribal clothes and markings were gone; his face and hair were clean and radiated a strange light; he wore loose fitting, white garments that shone as if they were made of light itself and he looked more at peace than Ebony had ever seen anyone look. They had never found his body, only some Techno records of his demise. There were those among the Mall Rats, both Amber and herself included, who had always held out some hope that the records were wrong and somewhere, somehow, Bray was still alive. Ebony had no hope now: he was here before her, dead.

"It's alright," Bray said, gently, sensing her distress. "It's all right. Like I said: it was my time. Just like it was our parents' time and Martin's time. Nothing happens without a reason, or that is not meant to happen. Sometimes a little extra help is needed, though, to keep things on the right track."

"Y-you're really dead?"

"Yes. I am, but you are not. Do you understand me Ebony? It's not your time: you have to fight, you have to go back."

"B-but, how am I here?" Ebony stammered, getting to her feet and walking over to Bray. "What happened? Why are you here talking to me? Are my parents here? Can I see them? Is Martin here?"

"Ebony, listen to me," Bray started, taking Ebony's hands in his. "This place, this... illusion... that you see around you, you're seeing it because this is your idea of heaven. This is the place you were happiest in during your life. That doesn't mean it is heaven: it's not. It's like a holding tank, where souls who are not ready yet have the chance to readjust to being dead or, in your case, comatose. It's where you go when you are hovering between life and death. You can't see your parents, or Martin: they're not here any more, they've moved on. I'm here to send you back. Once I've done that, I'll move on too."

"Y-you have a son, you know."

"I know. And you have to tell Amber to let me go. She has Jay now. He is who she is meant to be with."

"But is she who he's meant to be with?" Ebony asked with a wry smile.

"I know you think he treated you badly, but look at it this way: if he hadn't, would you have followed Jack out of the mall? Like I said, everything happens for a reason. Sometimes stories don't seem to have happy endings, but that's just because it's not the end of the story. Remember that," Bray smiled and stepped back from Ebony. "Remember that."

Slowly, Bray's image blurred into a long oval of white light, then began to fade.

"But how do I get back?" Ebony called to the empty porch. "How do I get back?"

As if the effort of shouting had wearied her, Ebony fell back onto the chair. She was dizzy. Her head was spinning. The world around her went black.

****

"We have spoken to the prisoner at length," Alkaia told Jetta, "and he poses no threat to us. I see no reason not to allow him as far into the valley as the outer perimeter huts. As with all male guests, he may not enter the gates of our inner perimeter, but he should have all that he requires in the outer huts. You may remain there with him, if you wish. I understand that there is much you have to talk about."

"There is much, Alkaia," Jetta replied. "But there are other things I must see to first. I do not wish to see Jack immediately, but I will come to him when I am ready. I thank you for your hospitality."

"Your thanks is accepted, but it is unnecessary: it is our way, you know that, and, besides, our guest has already thanked us himself. You picked a good mate."

"I believe so. But for now, I must beg your leave to go. I must return to camp and talk with Leila."

"You are not unwell, I hope!"

"I am sure it is nothing."

"Perhaps you would not object to Hope's father taking care of his daughter, then, while you are busy? It is, after all, why he followed you all this way."

"I would not object, as long as someone stays with him. I would also like to bring Leila to see him: he has not been well and I fear the journey may have weakened him. Also, I believe you have one of his old tribe members here: a recruit named Alice?"

"We do indeed. I will fetch her and she can stay with Jack and Hope while you speak with Leila."

****

"So, a-are they okay?" Jack asked, nervously, as the two Amazon generals watched over him, silently.

A voice called through the door and the taller, dark haired general, Morgaine, turned and left to answer the summons.

"Jetta and Hope," Jack tried again. "A-are they okay?"

Stumbling slightly, he put a hand out to steady himself. The other general, Jewel, stepped forward and caught him before he fell.

"They are fine," she replied, guiding Jack to a nearby stool. "But you are not. You are weak from your journey and a night incarcerated as our prisoner. You must rest. I realise this is not the ideal place to do so, but once our leader has returned, and assuming Jetta herself agrees, we will escort you to our guest quarters. You should find them more comfortable."

Jewel frowned at the beads of sweat which had formed on Jack's brow and the difficulty with which he breathed.

"While you remain with us, I would suggest that you allow our healer, Leila, to examine you. I am not the expert that she is, but I can recognise the signs of illness well enough."

"Th-then I can stay?" Jack asked once his breathing had returned to some semblance of normality.

"That depends on Jetta. I should not have spoken to you at all; nor would I have done, but your health appeared to deteriorate as your anxiety increased. It is not my place to deliver your judgement: that is reserved for Alkaia. Please, calm yourself and let me remain in silence as we await her."

Jack nodded, understanding now the icy silence of the two generals when both were present. The Mall Rats had similar customs when dealing with unknown intruders, although perhaps less intimidating ones, he liked to think, unless of course you counted Lex.

After another five or ten minutes, the door was opened and Morgaine and Alkaia entered. Behind them, through the open door, Jack could hear the sounds of a child laughing.

"With the agreement of Jetta," Alkaia began, "it has been decided that you may stay. There are, however a few rules with which you must comply. Firstly, understand that, as Amazons, we cannot allow the intrusion of any male presence into the inner part of our camp. For this reason, our camp has two perimeters: the outer and the inner perimeter. At the outer perimeter, there are a number of huts used for housing guests. This is where you will stay during your time with us. You will be under our protection as long as you remain within the borders of our land or, should we be attacked, the fortifications of the outer perimeter. You will not pass the inner perimeter under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

Jack nodded, silently.

"I have spoken at length with Jetta," Alkaia continued, "and, although she has other business to attend to before she herself returns to speak with you, she has allowed that one of her sister Amazons may bring your daughter to you and stay with you while you await her. Your daughter and the Amazon in question await you outside this door to accompany you to the guest huts."

"Th-thank you," Jack stammered, rising, shakily, to his feet then looking up in surprise as Alkaia offered him her arm to lean on.

"Jetta told me you had been ill," the Amazon leader explained, "and I can see that her fears that your journey had weakened you were not unfounded. She will bring our healer with her when she comes to see you later."

Again, Jack nodded, accepting the offered support. As he walked forward, he saw a familiar form through the doorway. Stopping suddenly, he called out the figure's name.

"Alice!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Jack, it's so good to see you!" Alice cried, hurrying forth to hug him.

"Wh-what, what are you doing here?" Jack gasped, extracting himself and his daughter from Alice's grasp. "Ellie's been going nuts without you!"

"But she had you, honey," Alice beamed, then frowned. "Besides, I couldn't go back there on my own: too many memories."

"Ned?" Jack asked, quietly.

Alice nodded and was silent for a moment.

"But anyway, tell me," she said, suddenly cheerful again. "Are you my brother-in-law now or what?"

"Er... I think that's a 'what', Alice," Jack answered, awkwardly. "E-Ellie and I kinda split up."

"What? What happened?"

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. There was the question he'd been dreading.

"Luke... happened," he shrugged, despondently. "But that's not really important any more."

Alice didn't seem shocked, or even surprised: it was as if she had almost been expecting Jack's answer. She gave a half smile and put a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Well, come on," she said, cheerfully. "I'll show you to your new quarters and you can tell me all about it."

****

Ebony opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the bright light that graced her room. A male figure stood amidst the glare.

"Bray?" She whispered, thinking, for a moment, that he had returned to accompany her back to her old life.

"Ebony?" Slade cried, hurrying to kneel by her side as the glare resolved itself into his image.

"Slade?" Ebony asked, trying to sit up. "Is that you?"

"It's me, I'm here," Slade affirmed before turning to shout: "Ruby!"

"What happened?"

"It's okay, you were unconscious, but only for a few hours," Slade told her, hurriedly, as Ruby entered the room. "You cut yourself and you lost a lot of blood, but it's okay, it obviously wasn't enough!"

"Can't keep me down, huh?" Ebony joked, weakly.

"How do you feel?" Ruby asked, sitting down on the bed beside Ebony.

"A little faint," Ebony replied. "Like I've had a knock on the head or something, but not too bad."

"Are you hungry?"

Ebony hadn't even thought about food, but now that Ruby mentioned it she realised she was ravenous. She nodded her head quickly, then groaned and clutched her forehead in one hand. It was then that she noticed the bandages on her wrists. Ruby and Slade glanced at each other, warily.

"What did I do?" Ebony voice shook, querulously.

"It's okay, honey," Ruby said, gently. "You weren't quite yourself at the time."

"Oh, but I was," Ebony replied, melodramatically. "I might have been half mad or drunk or... something, but whatever I was, I was still me. If I did it once, I can do it again."

"That doesn't mean you will," Slade said, reassuringly, rising to his feet as his did so. "Now come on: I'll go get you something to eat and drink and Ruby can help you get dressed and all that."

****

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Leila asked, brushing the blue and brown strands out of her eyes as she closed her hut door behind Jetta.

"I... um... I have a problem," Jetta replied, her eyes searching for a place to rest. "I... um... found a lump..."

****

Conversation between Lex and Paul had been slow moving. Paul's only method of communicating with his old tormentor was by written notes and Lex's difficulty in reading had once again become painfully apparent. The ex-sherrif wrinkled his brow as he mouthed each letter and syllable individually before trying to put them together, into words.

Paul waited patiently, watching Skye serving a customer at the bar. If there was anything his time away from the mall had taught him, it was patience: he knew now that Lex's dislike of him had been founded on his inability to communicate with him and the way in which that inability showed up his own weaknesses. Now that he was older and more mature, he was more willing to try and face those weaknesses. He had changed a lot since Paul had last seen him. He had grown up a lot: they all had.

Eventually, Lex translated all of Paul's note into spoken words. As he began to understand the meaning of the words, his face fell. Paul frowned, but waited for a reply. Lex lifted his head and looked directly at Paul.

"I'm so sorry mate," he said, slowly and clearly, reaching across to place a hand on Paul's shoulder. "She didn't deserve to die like that."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I can't believe she did it to you again!" Alice sighed. "I know she's my little sister and all, but really, sometimes, I can't believe we're related!"

"It's hardly your fault, Alice," Jack replied, cradling his daughter in his arms. "You weren't even there!"

"But that's just it," the sizeable Amazon replied. "I should have been there! Look at me, Jack: I'm not ill; I'm not a prisoner. There is nothing to stop me going back to the city and the mall. I just didn't. I found this place, made some friends and settled in. I knew my little sister was out there, somewhere, but I didn't know whether she was still at the mall or even alive! I didn't know and I didn't want to find out! As long as I was here, I could kid myself that you and Ellie were living happily in the mall with everyone else and that everyone, and everything, was fine!"

"Everyone?" Jack asked softly, guessing what his old friend meant by that. "You mean Ned?"

Alice looked away, her jaw tightening.

"I think you can be forgiven for wanting to believe the man you loved was alive and well, Alice!"

"Self-delusion is nothing more than an elaborate form of cowardice."

"Only if you let that delusion rule your life."

"But that's just it: I did! I let that delusion keep me here, away from the proof that it was just that: a delusion. I let it keep me from my tribe: my friends; my _sister_! And now look: you've had to pay for it."

"I wouldn't worry about me, Alice! It was hard at the time, but really: I'm fine! Look at me: I have a daughter. I would never have found her if Ellie hadn't dumped me," Jack paused and gazed into the distance, smiling at private recollections. "A lot of things wouldn't have happened if Ellie hadn't dumped me!"

"Such as?" Alice coaxed, curious about the look on Jack's face.

"Oh, it's a long story."

"So?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably: he wasn't sure how Alice would react to this news.

"Er," he began, uncertainly. "Well, l-let me just say, for starters, that she has changed, a lot. A lot has... has happened while you were away. Sh-she's a whole other person now. And she really does care for me. I know she does. And I love her. And we've been through so much. She's come a long way from when you knew her..."

"Jack," Alice said, her voice drawing her friends name out into a warning. "What have you done?"

"Heh!" Jack laughed, nervously, as a few beads of sweat appeared on his brow, then stood up before continuing. "Really, you'd like her now, you used to once," he backed up to behind the chair, edging towards the door. "Sh-she's totally different!"

"So you said," the warning still hung in Alice's voice. "_Who_ would I really like, Jack? And this better not be who I think it is!"

"E-E-Ebony!" Jack squeaked and rushed out of the door, his daughter in his arms.

Alice blinked. He really had just said that, hadn't he. He'd just told her that he was in love with Ebony: the woman responsible for Ned's death, in conjunction with the Guardian, of course! The woman who had betrayed the Mall Rats left, right and centre. The woman who had ran the Locos after Zoot's demise and who had started the whole darn Chosen thing in the first place! And he _loved_ her?

****

Ebony had joined Paul and Lex at the table in the saloon. She was busily working as translator for Lex, who had, once again, swallowed his pride and admitted his weakness with reading and writing. As she read out the last of Paul's questions, she tried to ignore the sound of muted bickering coming from the kitchen where Slade and Ruby were busy with the meals. She hadn't been able to make out more of the argument, but the few words she had caught whenever Skye had gone through to the kitchen for food convinced her of its main substance. Phrases such as "drag him back, kicking and screaming," and "must have his reasons," floated through along with the occasional name, curse or insult.

Lex listened to the question and began to reply. There had been a lot of news exchanged, both bad and good. Paul hadn't known of Zandra's death, or even her pregnancy, or of Dal's demise. He did know that he had seen someone, a woman he did not recognise, bearing the now famous Mall Rat pentagram on her hand, and went on to describe her at great length. A description so clear that Ebony had truncated it to two words: "It's Alice." Lex had asked where Paul had seen her and how she had seemed and, although the deaf young man couldn't be sure in his answer to the first question, his answer to the second proved that Alice was alive and well somewhere, or had been at that time.

Lex and Ebony started when, as Skye once more made the transition from kitchen to bar, a scream erupted from the kitchen, followed by a loud crash then silence. With Paul following, they hurried to the door and looked through to the kitchen. A plate of stew had been smashed against the wall behind Slade and now lay in pieces on the floor, a brown gravy stain marking where it had hit the wall. Splattered in gravy, but quite unharmed, Slade was standing with his hands cupping Ruby's face and his lips pressed against hers. Ruby's arms were frozen mid-gesticulation but eventually she shrugged and wrapped them around Slade's neck. Lex and Ebony caught each other's glance and simultaneously raised their eyebrows before turning back to the saloon and returning to their table.

The next question Paul wrote down asked if either of them were returning to the city. When Ebony read out the question she was surprised to find both herself and Lex answering that they would be leaving soon. She had refrained from mentioning Bray's death in their three-way conversation but had decided, almost as soon as she had woken up, that she must return and face Amber with the news. It was only fair that her former nemesis should be the first to know of his sad fate. It was Lex's decision to return that surprised her, however, as she had assumed that, rather than return to the city with her and Paul, he would proceed with his quest to find Tai San. Apparently not.

The remainder of their day was passed in discussion of more news, stories of their travels and discussion of when to leave for the city. In the case of the latter, it was decided that they should depart early the next morning and that Paul would spend the night in the saloon to be close at hand.

****

"Is it bad?" Jetta asked as Leila completed her examination.

"From what you have told me, what I can see and what I know of your history, I believe so. There is always the chance that it is just a lump and nothing more, but we do not have any way of performing any of the tests the old world doctors would have used and, therefore, I cannot be sure. There may be hope, but I would prepare yourself for the worst. I'm sorry."

"Can anything be done?"

"I could try and operate, if that's what you mean, but these days that may well prove just as fatal as the lump itself, if not more so. In this world, I have to look at the worst it can be, Jetta, I can't say 'well, we'll know more after a few tests'. The lump could be benign, in which case an operation to remove it, and the risks that would involve, would be unnecessary. On the other hand, it could be malignant and an operation our only hope of cure; a cure which may work wholly, partially or not at all and, if I'm not mistaken, you know that just as well as I do."

"If you were not to operate, and it was cancerous, how long do you think I've got?"

"You would know better than I would. These things vary so much and I really have no experience of them. I can't even tell how far advanced it is. You have been here before. I haven't. My knowledge of physiology and anatomy is good enough to give me a fair chance of removing the lump without doing further damage, but in this world, without proper antiseptic or anaesthetic..." The younger girl shrugged, sorrowfully, then, after a few moments added: "You must tell Alkaia of this. When the time comes, it is she who will become your daughter's guardian unless you say otherwise. Does the child's father still live?"

"Yes. He is, in fact, here. I left Hope with him when I came to see you. He arrived, unexpectedly, last night or this morning."

"Then you must also tell him. He has a right to know."

"I know," Jetta bowed her head. "I just hope he will stay until the end. I would have all my remaining friends and family around me, when the time comes, and my daughter will need her father."

****

That night, a figure wove it's way through the lonely, darkened city streets. Everything was quiet. The city was relaxing into the untroubled slumber of peaceful times. The smaller battles for survival were never ending and there would always be some form of struggle for some of the city residents, but not in this area and not now. The figure, a tall lean form disguised by a dark hood and cloak, stopped, looked around stealthily, then crept into a seemingly abandoned building on the city's edge.

"Is everything in order?" asked a voice from the shadows as the figure entered.

The figure knelt and inclined it's head in an affirmative gesture.

"Good," the voice replied. "It will not be long now before we have taken back what was ours. Proceed as you were. Do not raise any suspicions. Await our signal. Then do as you have been ordered."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Lex and Ebony said their goodbyes early the next morning, while Slade and Ruby waved them off and Skye glowered from the doorway. The young barmaid had never quite got used to the idea that Slade and Ruby were a couple and that her dreamy, mysterious, biker-guy was off limits; now that she was left alone with the happy couple, life seemed decidedly dire. She watched the three Mall Rats wind their way out of the small town and up the road to the city, then slunk back inside and resumed her usual position behind the bar. Life was so boring now, she thought as she polished the inside of a glass, perhaps it was time that she moved on too. But not before she'd given Ruby the time to find some more help, a voice in her head reminded her, it wasn't like the saloon was always this quiet.

Outside, Slade and Ruby turned, Slade's arm around Ruby's waist, and began walking back towards the door of the saloon. Just before they reached the doorway, Slade stopped.

"You know," he said, looking up at the hotel, then down at the young woman beside him. "I'm getting quite used to this place. What do you say we make this a bit more permanent?"

"Permanent?" Ruby replied, feigning puzzlement. "Well, I guess that all depends on what you mean by 'this', now doesn't it?"

"You know what I mean," Slade grinned. "But if it'll make you happy to hear me say it, I guess I'll say it," he knelt down, on one knee, his hand slipping easily from Ruby's waist to her hand. "Ruby, my rock, the centre of my universe, my one true love: will you marry me?"

****

Ebony, Paul and Lex made their way back to the city with mixed emotions playing on their faces. Paul's was a mixture of excitement, apprehension and frustration as he tried to teach Lex some signs while they walked. Lex's face showed a mixture of confusion and concentration, with the occasional spark of sudden, joyful understanding and relief. Ebony's face showed little and that, in itself, said a lot.

As they passed by the places she hadn't seen since she had left the city, Ebony's mind flew back to Jack. All around her were memories of one argument or another, the awkward, tender moments that had usually sparked the arguments in the first place, and the occasional snake. Sometimes she laughed to herself as she recollected something particularly stupid she had said or done, only to have the blindingly obvious pointed out by Jack, but most of the time her face was a dull, blank wall of detached reminiscences.

****

Jack had woken early, but had done little more than lie on his bed and think for most of the morning. Alice had gone off fuming the day before. Jetta had come to take Hope back that evening and had said hardly anything to him, regardless of the questions he asked. He had been left alone on the outskirts of the Amazon village with nothing to do but wait until someone next came to him.

As the sun began to creep through the north-facing window of his hut, he finally heard a knock at the door. Walking over, hoping that whoever was on the other side would be carrying his daughter, he opened the wood-panelled door and stepped aside to let the person enter. It was Jewel. She was alone.

At once, Jack's heart fell. Wordlessly, he offered the Amazon general one of the three-legged stools sitting by the small table in the hut. There were few furnishings in the one-room building. The low bed, a battered chair by the bed, two stools and the table were Jack's only furniture. A battered wooden box, a small, clay-set shard of mirror, a jug of water, a bowl and a carved wooden cup were his only accoutrements besides those he had brought with him. Jewel sat down at the table and laid upon it the platter of food she had brought Jack.

"My apologies," she began. "Someone should have brought you food earlier."

"It doesn't matter," Jack replied sitting down on the other stool. "I barely noticed the time passing anyway."

"Asleep?"

"No, just thinking."

"Of anything in particular?"

"A number of things."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Some, I suppose. I was thinking about when I would next see my daughter. A-and why, when she came to collect her last night, Jetta wouldn't say anything to me. Barely a word."

"The first I can answer: you will, most likely, see your daughter again today, though I do not know when today. The second is more difficult. I too have noticed something amiss with Jetta, but she has said nothing to me about it either and it is not my place to speculate. I will try and talk to her though, if you would like."

"I would appreciate that." Jack murmured thoughtfully. "S-something in her manner worried me more than just the silence. I wish I knew what it was: maybe I could help, o-or perhaps put her mind at ease about something, if only I knew what was wrong."

"I will speak with her then. In the meantime, however, I would like to bring Leila, our healer, to speak with you. You seem much better now that you are rested, but I would prefer to have her opinion. You certainly were not well when first we met."

"If you bring her to me, I'll speak to her, but I can assure you: I feel fine now. I'd been walking for a very long time, with very little rest, before I reached here. That's probably all it was."

"Nevertheless, I will bring her to you," Jewel rose to go. "Enjoy your meal. I will leave you in peace now while I fetch Leila."

As she left the hut, Jack turned to the platter. On it there was another wooden cup filled with milk, some fruit, some bread and a bowl of chunky meat and vegetable soup. The Amazons were fairly self-reliant in their valley: they had a good, clean water supply, they tended crops of vegetables and cereals and even an orchard. Jack hadn't seen any animals yet, but from the meal before him and the food he had already received, he guessed they must also keep pigs and chickens at least, and that there were fish in the river and lake. If they could keep out invaders, there was no reason why they could not go on living peaceful, healthy lives here indefinitely.

It seemed like a paradise. It was certainly a safe and welcoming place for Hope to grow up in. The feeling nagged at Jack, though, that this was not the right place for his daughter. Perhaps he was just being selfish, though, he told himself. He could not stay here indefinitely and so he did not want his daughter to stay here indefinitely. Yet something inside him argued that it was more than that: there was another reason why Hope should not be brought up here. If only he could figure out what it was.

****

Jetta sat in the sunlight by the river, playing with her daughter. If both she and Leila were right, and most likely they were, this would be the last summer she would have with her daughter and she wanted to make the most of it. She watched Hope laugh as one of the piglets from the youngest litter tripped over its feet and crashed into one of its brothers or sisters. Now was a time for life to begin. It made it all the more difficult for Jetta to accept that now was also the time for her life to end.

****

There were movements in the city. Not huge lurches noticeable by anyone, but tiny, hesitating, tiptoeing movements. Lots of them. Strangers were seen in the city. Traders. Wanderers. Nobody in particular. No large groups of people. Just occasional, isolated strangers who seemed to have nothing to do with one another. The only odd thing about them, were how many there were of them; but then, the city _was_ at peace and people _would_ start coming back about now. That's all it was. Wasn't it?


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The three travellers made good time as they journeyed back to the city. Lex kept up a fast pace and Paul was obviously accustomed to long marches and kept up with him easily. A little distance behind them, Ebony tried to keep up; her ankle was better, but her legs were shorter than those of the young men and she hadn't done any serious walking in almost a month! Concentrating on keeping up with Paul and Lex, however, allowed her to put Jack out of her mind for once and she turned her thoughts to the journey ahead. If they kept going at this speed, they would reach the city before nightfall and the mall the next day.

****

"I can't stay here, Ruby!"

"Why not? What's wrong with here?"

"I just don't belong here. I have to get out of Liberty: keep moving until I find the right place."

"And here isn't the right place, presumably."

"Exactly."

"And what about me? What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry, but you'll find someone else soon. And besides, you have Slade here permanently now: he can help."

"And that's half the problem, isn't it Skye? Now that Slade and I are engaged, you just can't stand to be around us."

"Something like that, yes!" Skye screamed and turned on her heel, marching out of the saloon.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it," Slade said, gently gathering Ruby into his arms. "We'll manage."

"I just thought she might at least give me the time to find some more staff! First Jetta, then Jack, then Ebony and Lex, now Skye! I feel like the rats are deserting a sinking ship! Everyone's leaving!"

"I'm not. And she probably would have given you that extra time if I had been. You know what she's like. It can't exactly be easy for her: watching us two all the time!"

"I guess," Ruby sniffed, then looked up at Slade. "I just have this awful feeling that you're going too."

"I'm not going anywhere without you! Except... maybe... to the bathroom occasionally!"

Ruby smiled and laughed a little. Just because Slade was determined not to leave her here alone again, didn't mean that her gut feeling wasn't right. It just meant that she too would probably be leaving Liberty and her saloon behind, perhaps forever.

****

Trudy watched as Ryan ran circles around the fountain with Brady on his shoulders. The little girl was six now and it took all Trudy's and Ryan's energy to keep up with her, not to mention the energies of some of the other Mall rats. The first mother of Phoenix mall watched happily, laughing as she watched her daughter stick out her arms, giggle, and make bird noises. That was the only thing that showed Brady to be a post-virus child: she had no idea what a plane sounded like; she had never got the chance to associate the noise with the machine when the Technos arrived and that was the only time she had ever heard one.

Pride was right, Trudy reflected. They had made too much use of technology, both before the virus and after it. It was true that technology could sometimes save lives, but in recent years, it had taken far more than it had saved. As Trudy looked back over those they had lost, her mind hovered for a while on Bray. He had been so much not only to her and to Amber, but to their entire tribe. The entire city in fact! If only they had stuck to their guns and not switched him for Ebony in the elections, he might still be here now. They never had found his body.

Staring off into space, in the direction of the grill, Trudy imagined she saw him now - looking rather worn and tired, but alive - walking around the corner and smiling up at her through the grill. She thought she heard him call her name. It was only when Ryan looked round and rushed to raise the grill that she realised it was no figment of her imagination, but a real, live, figure standing there on the threshold of the mall, calling her name.

****

It was the middle of the afternoon before Jetta finally brought Hope to see Jack. Leila had come and gone, answering, as he expected, only his questions about his own health and avoiding answering those about Jetta's. He could tell there was something wrong, though.

"Hey there, sweetie," Jack crooned as Hope reached out to him.

For some unfathomable reason, the child appeared to be fascinated by her father's hair. Maybe it was just because it was so short and messy, but every time she was within reach, she would grab at it, pat it and occasionally try to eat it! As much as he enjoyed seeing his daughter, Jack had to admit that, on some occasions, the meeting could be quite painful! This time, as usual, as soon as she was placed in her father's arms, Hope reached up and tugged at the hair on the top of Jack's head.

"She'll grow out of it!" Jetta laughed as Jack winced in pain.

"Yeah, and now I know why some men go bald so quickly!" Jack replied, quickly, carrying Hope over to sit down on his bed and offering the chair to Jetta before adding: "we need to talk!"

"What about? I'm not leaving here, Jack," Jetta warned. "And you can't take my daughter away from me: not without my consent."

"And I'm guessing you're not gonna give that!"

"No."

"So how come you get to take my daughter away from me? In the middle of the night without even letting me say goodbye!"

"If I had waited to say goodbye, would you have let me go?"

"Maybe!" Jack replied, defensively, then shrugged and admitted: "No."

"And I had to come back here. There were people I had to see."

"Who?"

"My friends, Jack! My tribe!"

"If they are why you were so eager to get back," Jack spoke slowly and carefully, measuring every word, "then why do you look so unhappy now you're here?"

"Much has changed."

"You sound like Tai San. Or Jewel."

"You've spoken much with Jewel?"

"A bit. Why? Should I not?"

"There's no reason for you not to speak with her. I just thought you might prefer to spend your time with your old friend, Alice?"

"Alice isn't talking to me right now."

"Oh. Why?"

"Ebony."

"They didn't get on?"

"You could say that."

"I see."

"You're avoiding the subject."

"Which one?" Jetta asked, innocently.

Jack sighed. He hated asking them, but sometimes direct questions were the only way to get answers out of people.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What makes you think there is something wrong with me?" Jetta avoided Jack's eyes and stared at her hands as she spoke.

"You answer questions with questions!" Jack replied. "You're cagey. You've barely spoken to me since I got here and it's not like we parted on bad terms! This isn't like you, Jetta: I can tell there's something wrong. I just wish you would tell me what it is! Maybe I could help!"

Jetta smiled. She still wouldn't look up at Jack, but she cold tell from his voice that his face would be an eager, honest mask, his brow probably wrinkled with worry. Perhaps he could help, but was it fair to burden him with the truth? On the other hand, was it fair not to? A long silence passed before she finally looked up and met his gaze. The openness of his countenance and the look of genuine concern she saw there made Jetta's lip tremble. This was what she had wanted to avoid: breaking down in front of Jack and in front of her daughter. She glanced at Hope, and saw that the toddler had subsided into a gentle sleep.

Jack saw her glance, stood up and placed Hope in the bassinet her mother had brought her in. Drawing a blanket over his daughter, Jack turned back to Jetta and drew her over to sit beside him on the bed, clasping her hands tightly in his own.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You can tell me. It's okay."

Jetta bit her lip. She could feel the tears welling up inside her and, faced with such support and tenderness, there was nothing she could do to stop them. As they spilled over, she finally managed to voice the three words she had been dreading saying:

"I have cancer."

Jack felt like the bottom had just dropped out of his world. As he drew Jetta's head to rest on his shoulder, he ran over his new situation in his mind. He had always felt torn, as long as he had been there, between Ebony and his daughter. Now Jetta needed him there too. He had to stay. For now, anyway, and until it was over, however long that may be. Not only would Jetta need him much more before the end, but Hope would need him afterwards too. He bent his head down and kissed Jetta's forehead. She jumped as if she had been stung and looked up at him, tears blurring her eyes.

"I don't want your pity, Jack," Jetta warned, moving away from him.

"I-it's not! I'm not..." Jack threw up his hands. "Dammit, Jetta: you read too much into things! I wouldn't do that! Not to you. Not to Ebony. I thought you knew me better!"

"But you did cheat on Ellie, didn't you? The proof of that is lying in that basket behind you. And the next morning I woke up to find you'd disappeared. What happens this time: you disappear and take Hope with you?"

"I'm not going to disappear!"

"Really? It seems to me you're quite good at that. You've disappeared on me once already. You walked out of the mall without saying goodbye to anyone. I'm guessing you didn't stop to say a fond farewell to Ebony when you came after me. How many other times have you disappeared without warning, Jack?"

"I'm not going to disappear! Not this time!" Jack stood up and stormed across the small room. "You can post a guard on my door morning, noon and night if you want: I'm staying here. For as long... A-as long as you need me to."

"You mean as long as it takes," Jetta sighed.

"I'm just being practical."

"In what way Jack? You know I'm dying, so you're hanging around to wait for the end. Once I'm gone, you'll be able to take Hope and leave here without any argument from me. Am I right?"

"Sh-she is my daughter a-as much as she is yours!"

"What if I want my Amazon sisters to care for her and raise her here?"

"Do you?"

"There are worse places to raise a child. We are safe here. We have everything we need. She would grow up happy and healthy. She would be taught and trained to fight and survive by our best warriors."

"But not by either of her parents!"

"What could you offer her, Jack? You were going to leave Liberty once you were well and go looking for lost members of your, apparently famous, tribe. Would you still do that with a young daughter? Or would you stay in Liberty, in the saloon, with Ebony and Ruby and Slade and all the undesirables that wander through those doors?"

"You were happy enough there."

"Only for a while."

"S-so what do you suggest? I walk away? I-I leave my daughter, MY daughter, to be brought up by strangers? These people might be like sisters to you, Jetta, but I know nothing about them. Think about it. I-if things were the other way round, and I was dying, would you be happy to leave Hope with the Mall Rats?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The summer passed with its usual longevity. The dry heat, the long days and the few breezes that filled the valley slowed time almost to a stop. The Amazons still worked and trained as usual, but only in the early mornings and late evenings, when the heat was less. During the middle of the day, the camp fell into a sleepy languor with groups of varying sizes in the meadows, by the lake, by the river or in the shade of some trees or of a shelter.

Banned from the central part of the camp, Jack made do with spending his days in the woody groves and grassy areas by the lakeside. Jetta and Hope were almost always with him; Hope was more often present than her mother, however, and increasingly so as Jetta's 'bad days' became more frequent. At first, they had spent every day in each other's company, often with a number of Jetta's older acquaintances. Alkaia herself had spent many days with the small group, although Morgaine, the raven-haired general who had immediately seared herself into Jack's mind as a female version of Lex, tended to keep her distance and remain aloof.

On days when Jack was left alone with Hope, Jetta usually being cared for by Leila and Lana, he had often found Jewel waiting for him at the pool. They had spent many hours talking there, telling each other stories of battles and home and their respective tribes.

"It is always amusing," Jewel had said one day, "to see how people vary in their views of others, no matter how long they have known them. I remember Alice telling us about your tribe: her sister, you, your leaders. You are very like her description at first, but there is more to you than she has seen: a part of yourself you keep hidden. The others also seem very interesting people. Your leader in particular: Amber. She, I would like to meet."

"Hah, yeah, Amber's something else sometimes!" Jack laughed, playing with Hope's hands in an attempt to remain headache free for a day. "But they've all had their moments."

"Hmmm," Jewel mused, contemplating the glittering surface of the lake. "You have spoken of many such "moments", but there is something you have missed out. Something rather surprising, considering Alice's stories."

"Oh?" Jack's brow creased and he suddenly found the ground before him very interesting. "Wh-what... What's that?"

Jewel focussed her sapphire eyes on Jack's expressive countenance, readying herself to gauge his reaction.

"Ebony."

"Ah," Jack remained looking at the ground, his hand absently resting on his daughters head, preventing her from pulling herself up and into reach of his hair and causing her to swing her arms around wildly trying to grasp something that was not quite in reach.

"Alice told me what you told her."

"I see."

"Either you are very false, Jack, or loyal and dutiful to the point of stupidity!"

"Am I."

Hope finally figured out what was impeding her movement and reached chubby hands up to pull at her father's wrist. Jack glanced at her then returned his gaze to the grass before him.

"I'm needed here," he said, his voice, like his face, devoid of feeling.

"I do not dispute that. Your daughter needs you. Jetta, even, needs you. But that is not what I am referring to and you know it.

"What can I do? I can't leave. Not now, not as things are. I care for Jetta, I always have. She's the mother of my child, for Pete's sake!"

"That does not mean that you should give your heart to her when it belongs to another. She does not expect that much of you, why should anyone else?"

"I haven't given her my heart," Jack's frown deepened and he closed his eyes. "I can't and she knows that. I can give her everything else, though. Until the end."

"Even though you do not know how long that will be?"

"It doesn't matter how long. Long or short, she needs me here until then and, while I'm here, I will do everything I can to make the time she has left easier. Happier, maybe."

"You have already brought more happiness into her life than any other, Jack. You gave her Hope."

Jack's frown lessened as he looked over at his daughter, wrestling his hand out of her way, then increased as he yelled out when she grabbed his finger and bit it!

"She is growing strong, like her mother," Jewel laughed as Jack nursed his hand and cradled the troublesome infant in his other arm.

"Thanks, I think!"

"What will you do... after?"

"Head back to Liberty," Jack shrugged. "See if Ebony is willing to take me back and my daughter with me!"

"And if she is not?"

Jack grinned.

"Then I'll just have to think of a way to change her mind!"

****

Ebony sat in the furthest corner of the old electronics store. With any luck, Ellie wouldn't notice she was in here and Amber wouldn't notice she was missing. She had begun to wonder if coming back to the mall had been a good idea: it had been bad enough living there when she and Amber hated each other, now the over-enthusiastic, high-principled leader was mothering her more than she did baby Bray!

It had been around about three months since they, Ebony, Paul and Lex, had arrived back where it all started. Three months and she was still having trouble taking in all the changes! KC was back and Gel was trailing after him like a lovesick puppy. Trudy was a little more spaced than usual and kept talking about Bray, even after Ebony had told them of her experience. Luke and Ellie had married. May had left, again! Amber was pregnant, but Jay wasn't talking to her! Pride appeared to be trying to tame pigeons! And Ryan and Brady had turned into the mall's new private detectives!

It was enough to cope with when she had just got back, but the added goings on in the city and in her own life had kept her reeling. At first, it had just been a simple case of catching up on the somewhat bizarre level of news and relating her story first to Amber then, at Amber's request, to the entire mall. There had been a lot of news from both sides and, once it had all been exchanged, one might have thought life would return to simplicity but no, not here. Instead Ebony found herself trying to re-learn everything she ever knew about her fellow Mall Rats; well, apart from the fact that Trudy was a part-time fruitcake!

Lex hadn't told anyone that he had even met she and Jack in Liberty, let alone that they were now in a relationship which had been suddenly put on temporary but indefinite hold because of Jack's disappearing act! When he showed up with both Ebony and Paul in tow, everyone had rushed to ask how they were and where had they been. Everyone except Ellie. The girl still seemed to have this idea fixed in her head that Ebony was out to get rid of Jack. She knew that they had both left that same night, during the party. She knew that Ebony had come back and that Jack had not. Therefore, in her mind, she _knew_ that that meant that Ebony _must_ have caught up with Jack and killed him, no matter what Ebony said. Lex was no help: he and Paul had been told to stay well out of it and not say anything about Jack's, somewhat dubious, whereabouts!

Now, whenever she got the chance, Ellie would see it as her moral duty to grill Ebony on Jack's last known movements, as long as there was no one, such as Luke, there to see her. Ebony had thought she knew all the hiding places in the mall, but she'd found at least a dozen others since she'd had to hide from Ellie! She just hoped the whiny nuisance wouldn't come looking for her here!


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"The raids are going well," the kneeling figure reported from it's place before the small, central fire, head hooded and bent. "The city thinks they are no more than the random attacks one would expect with such an increase in populus."

"And the Mall Rats," the recumbent figure turned it's gaze towards another cloaked and hooded figure standing in a corner. "What do _they_ think?"

"They are too busy revelling in peace and squabbling amongst themselves to notice! There is more, however," the figure took a step forward. "The renegade has returned. She brought two others with her, but not him. He is still missing and their defences suffer for it. Also, it has become apparent that the renegade is with child and this weakens her. The queen grows impatient: all are now in the mall except him and he is the only one who is not to be harmed. Their defences are weak and their fighters out of condition. Our queen wishes us to begin our attack within three days."

"So be it," pronounced the figure of a young man, moving out of a darkened doorway and into the glow of the flickering flames, a rising spark catching sight of itself in the reflection of his glasses and dying into darkness. "Our 'queen' shall have her wish. Remember it is your job to remove her from the mall safely - you are the her protector."

"It will be done," the cloaked figure nodded and removed himself from the room, hurrying out into the night and back towards the mall.

"Will you really let her be queen once you have control?" drawled the figure reclining on the low couch.

"Oh, I don't know," the young man replied carelessly. "A man needs a little variety in his life. It depends how well your conditioning holds out."

"It'll hold. There wasn't much need for it, really. She blamed the Mall Rats for everything that happened to her, after all, just as I do. The only problem is: how will she react to sharing her title? Will you be telling her about little old me?"

The young man seemed to consider this for a moment.

"I don't know," he replied. "It could be fun to see how long it takes her to figure it out!"

****

As the sun rose over the valley, it's rays filling that secret place with golden light so rich in hue it flowed across the land like honey, Jack awoke and stretched out his hand to the side. In his mind he was back in Liberty, in the comfortable four poster bed he had shared with the woman he loved. He felt a familiar pang of pain as he remembered where he was and why, then sat up and shook himself awake. It would be a hard day today. A long day. Today, in a few hours, they would bury Jetta beneath the guardian tree, then he would leave. Alice and Hope would be going with him and, undoubtedly, Alice would be watching him like a hawk to make sure he followed Leila's advice. The young healer had watched him almost as closely as she had Jetta and had been reluctant to let him leave. Eventually, she had agreed to compromise and insisted he take a guard, and who better than Alice, to make sure that he followed the detailed list of do's and don't's that she had made both him and Alice recite until they knew it by heart!

Jack rolled his eyes at the memory and dragged himself out of bed. Hope was still sleeping, but it wouldn't be long before she awoke and began looking around for her mother. She was too young to understand what had happened to Jetta, but not too young to understand that her mother's familiar face was no longer there when she looked for it. Jack hurriedly washed and pulled on his clothes. There was always a good-sized pitcher of water in the hut and wooden boxes of bread and cheese. He ate and drank and began to pack the things he would need for his journey.

Two hours later, Jewel knocked on his door and he and Hope joined her and the other Amazons to make their way out of the valley and up to the guardian tree. Alice had her pack with her, but when she saw Jack's she hoisted that onto her back as well.

"You've got enough to carry," she said, simply.

They made their way in silence up the cliff path and through the tunnel to the water fall. Once again, Jack nearly slipped on the well rock, but Alice put out a hand to steady him. Eventually, they made it to the tree. A grave had aleady been dug by two Amazons already at the site and the young women carrying Jetta's enshrouded body on a wooden pallet placed the body over the grave. There were poles across the earthy pit to support the body during the ceremony and, as the pallet settled onto them, Alkaia began.

"Amazons. We are gathered here not to mourn a passing, but to celebrate a life well lived. Sister. You have lived with us, laughed with us, cried with us, fought with us and we thank you. You have taught us much, and were taught much in return. You were taken through despair, and brought back hope," a tender smile crossed Alkaia's face as she glanced at the child in Jack's arms, so aptly named. "In your strength you found weakness, and in your weakness, strength. You loved every one of us and were loved in return. We thank you for this, and bid you farewell. May we fight with you one day again."

Six Amazons stepped forward to take up ropes that were joined to the sides of the pallet: Lana, Jewel, Rialle, who had taken Jetta's role on the Amazon council, Leila, Vicky, who had become quite close to Jetta in the intervening months, and Morgaine. It was only then that Jack noticed that the raven haired warrior also had a pack with her. A few other Amazons Jack did not know moved forward to remove the supporting poles as the six took the weight of the pallet then, in silence, Jetta's body was lowered into the grave.

When the pallet reached the bottom of the grave pit, the six reached down and cut their ropes as low as they could. Alkaia then stepped forward once more. Taking up her own knife, she drew a cut along her palm and let fall a few drops of blood onto the lowered body.

"As you would have shed your blood for me, so too I shed my blood for you. Go in peace, sister, and may we meet again some day in battle."

As the two gravediggers stepped forward to fill the grave, and Leila bound Alkaia's hand, the crowd moved off and Morgaine walked over to Jack, Hope and Alice.

"I will accompany you to the City. Neither of you know the quickest route from here and you will need a guide. Besides, there have been rumours of disturbances in the City and it may be prudent to have another guard with you."

"I thought we were going to Liberty first," Jack replied with a frown. "To get Ebony."

"There is no telling if she will still be there," Jewel cut in, walking over to the small group. "And the City is actually nearer than Liberty anyway: you have walked two sides of a triangle, Jack, and the shortest side is the one left. Besides, there are more arguments for going to the Ctiy rather than Liberty: you're tribe is there, including Alice's sister, and perhaps also Ebony, and they deserve to know of the newest addition to their number. They also deserve to know that you are both safe and well as soon as possible. Ebony also needs to know, but if she is not there, then you can at least rest and catch up on any news before you attempt to win back her favour. Unlike you, Jack, I cannot see this being an easy task and you will need all the help you can get."

Jack shrugged, trying to picture Ellie's face when he walked in with not only her sister, but also Hope: his daughter!

"If I know Ebony, Jack," Alice added, "she's not the kind of girl to sit around waiting for you in a quiet little joint like Liberty! Plus if she has left, which is likely, then she's either going to head for the mall or off somewhere obscure and it's a heck of a lot easier to check the mall first!"

"Okay, fine, we'll head for the City!" Jack shrugged, shifting Hope's weight in his arms. "Just don't think that if she isn't there, I won't go looking for her!"

****

Ebony curled up in the corner of Jack's room. Ellie was on the warpath again. Sammy had spotted her slight bump and decided to point it out at breakfast two days ago. Trudy and Amber had put two and two together and declared to the room in general that Ebony was pregnant and Ellie had gone from her usual shade of pale to pure white! Now she was taking every opportunity to make Ebony out to be a slut and any number of other unpalatable things.

"At least the danger area is past," Lex murmured softly from Ebony's side as they listened to Ellie shrieking like a banshee from the floor above while Luke tried to calm her down.

Ebony nodded. Lex and Paul were the only ones to have found her hide-out so far, although Ebony had a sneaking suspicion that Salene knew too but was keeping quiet about it. It was odd. The previously red-haired girl had found her way back to the mall in one of the latest waves of travellers and had immediately caused a stir. Her hair was no longer the bright, flame coloured red of the past, but a dark reddish-black with the occasional bright red twist of colour here and there and glitter shining throughout. Her makeup and dress had changed accordingly and the black, glittery top she wore, with its single shoulder and black chiffon streamers hanging down from where it cut away above her midriff had caught almost every male's attention, tearing even the slightly crazed Gaian's attention away from his pigeons and back to his ex-lover. Her appearance had altered so dramatically that they all expected her character to have done the same, but it hadn't. She was more serene and a little more grown up, but she was still the same Salene and the only one of the girls who hadn't treated Ebony with contempt since it had become known that she was pregnant.

Paul signed something to Lex and Lex translated.

"He says he's going to go see if there's anyone in the cafe. Do you want a drink or anything, babe?"

"No, I'm fine," Ebony whispered. "If it's all quiet out there though, I might come out and stretch my legs for a bit: junior here doesn't help with the cramps and my legs are really stiff!"

"Okay," Lex signed the reply back to Paul then watched as the other man headed over to the doorway and peered out.

Of the three of them, Paul was the one who could best tell if everyone had moved up to the upper floors or not: he claimed he could feel the footsteps through the floor. He disappeared for a few moments, then came back and signalled to Lex that they could come out. Lex helped Ebony to her feet and they headed round to the cafe.

"You know if that lot hear you calling me 'babe', they'll think you're the father!" Ebony joked as Lex led her over to the old sofa by the wall.

"Huh, I think half of them already do!" Lex replied. "Either me or Slade, anyway. You never know, might be the only chance I get!"

"Don't say that!"

"Why not? It's true! Look at my track record!"

"Tai San might still be out there somewhere. She might come walking back in here one day just like Salene did!"

"Maybe, but the longer it gets, the less likely it looks," Lex shrugged and took the mug of tea Paul handed him. "I just wish she were here for this, you know; she'd be a heck of a lot more use than me and Paul when it comes to getting you through this!"

Ebony smiled at Lex's sentiment, and his lack of grammar.

"Paul and I," she teased. "And you needn't worry so much! Heck, if Amber can manage it on her own, I sure can! Plus, Salene might help when it comes to the time."

"I guess. I wonder if she can bring Pride back to his senses?"

"I hope so!" Ebony replied, vehemently, "Jeez, he's doing my head in as he is! He was bad enough before, but now he just completely cracked!"


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"But I'm scared!" Ebony yelled at Lex as they made their way back to the mall through the sewers.

Lex laughed.

"Never thought I'd hear the mighty Ebony admit that one!"

"It's different now! There's the baby. I might be hardened to this world, but he's not!"

"You seem awfully sure it's gonna be a boy!"

"Maybe it's just easier that way."

"What?"

"Well, this baby is the only thing I've got left of its father. Maybe it's just easier to believe that it's a boy and that he'll grow up just like his dad. Well, his biological dad!"

"Y'know, I never saw you as the sentimental type."

"Things change."

"Yeah."

The two walked on in companionable silence for a while until they reached the sewer entrance to the mall.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Lex sighed. "Not exactly the healthiest atmosphere for a growing rugrat!"

"So why were you down there then?" Ebony quipped as she emerged into the Mall basement.

"Ha ha!" Lex replied, following her. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Ebony smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder as he turned to face her after securing the sewer entrance. "And thanks for caring."

For a moment, Lex looked as though he was about to say something, but then he changed his mind and headed towards the stairs up to the main foyer of the mall. Ebony frowned, as if puzzled, then hurried after him. She caught up with him beside the phoenix fountain.

"Lex, is everything okay?" Ebony asked, grabbing hold of Lex's arm and spinning him round.

"Huh? Yeah, fine, fine. Everything's fine," he tried to pull away, but Ebony's grip on his arm tightened.

"No, it's not, I can tell," she replied. "What is it? Is it me? Is it because this lot all think you're the father of this baby? What?"

"No, it's nothing to do with what anyone thinks!"

"Then what? Are you still angry that I won't go back to Liberty?"

"No, although the way things have been going here these past couple of days I still think it would be a good idea!"

"And I still say the journey itself would be more of a risk than staying! At least here we have some sort of security system!"

"In Liberty we wouldn't need it!"

"You don't know that!"

"I'm willing to bet my life on it!"

"Then go! Be my guest! I won't stop you!"

"Not without you!"

"Why not, Lex? You want to go, I want to stay; sounds simple enough to me!"

"I'm needed here. There's no reason for me to go if it's not to look after you and the baby!"

"You don't have to look after me, Lex!"

"Yes, I do!" Lex yelled. "I can't not! I want to look after you. Not just now, not just until the baby's born, but after that too."

Ebony fell silent, her hand still resting on Lex's arm.

"Lex," she said quietly. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want to protect you, look after you, provide for you. You and the baby. I know I can't replace Jack, but I can be a good husband to you and a good father to your baby. If you'll let me?"

Ebony couldn't speak. She just looked at Lex as if any moment now she was expecting him to turn round and say he was only joking or messing around. He didn't. He just looked back. He couldn't replace Jack, that was true, but he was right when he said he would make a good father. Ebony's mind was a blur with confused thoughts. She hadn't heard from Jack in over three months, almost four now, and in this world that usually either meant he couldn't come back, or he didn't want to. She couldn't raise a child on her own. She knew Trudy would parade the fact that she managed it if Ebony were ever to admit to such a thing publicly, but in truth, both Trudy and Amber had had help with their offspring: they had had a tribe full of friends around them to help. Ebony had only Paul, who wasn't proving to be much good with the current infants of the mall, and Lex. Perhaps it would be better for the baby if she did accept his offer.

"You know that I would treat your child as my own, Ebony," Lex said, gently. "As far as I, and for that matter that lot up there are all concerned, the child you're carrying would be mine in all but blood, and me and... I mean, Paul and I, are the only ones who would know the last part of that."

"Might get pretty obvious if this kid grows up and starts wearing bad Hawaiian shirts and overhauling the mall's computers and security system!" Ebony laughed, looking at her feet. "I just wish..."

"I know. I can't replace him, but I'll try to fill the gap the best I can."

"I know you will," Ebony looked up, brushing a stray lock of hair away from Lex's face. "And I'm grateful. Really, I am. I just miss him, that's all. Jack was a huge part of my life, I can't just forget him as if he never existed."

"You're talking like I'm dead!"

Both Ebony and Lex jumped at the sound of a familiar voice from the doorway. Ebony spun round to face the newcomer and there, on the other side of the grill, was Jack. In his arms he held his daughter, Hope. Beside him stood Alice and another young woman neither Lex nor Ebony recognised. Ebony froze for a moment, her face a pale, ashen shade, then collapsed into Lex's arms.

****

"I think she's coming round," Salene's voice drifted through to Ebony's mind.

"Who'd have thought! The great Queen of the Locos collapsing into a quivering heap because the guy she thought she'd got rid of turns up again!" Ellie's whining attempt at sarcasm came through clearer.

"Shut up Ellie!" four voices snapped in unison.

"Well, why else would the Bride of Zoot pass out?"

"Maybe because she's pregnant!" Ebony heard Lex reply.

"Hardly a surprising state for that tramp! She should have been more careful!"

"Watch your mouth, Ellie!" Jack's voice hissed.

"What for? Stating the truth?"

"I don't see how that's the truth," Lex's voice replied before adding pointedly: "she was only ever with one guy the whole time she was in Liberty. And no, it wasn't me!"

"And some choice of guy that must of been!" Ellie countered, determined to have the last word. "Where's he been all the time she was here, if he wasn't you?"

"I was looking after a dying friend," Jack was heard to reply. "That okay for you, Ellie?"

Silence.

Thud.

"Will I pick her up?" Ebony heard an unfamiliar voice join the conversation.

"Leave her," Alice sighed. "She'll have a stiff neck when she comes round, but that's no more than she's being to us right now!"

"Huh?" Lex queried.

"Pain in the neck, Lex," Jack explained. "Still hating my choices, Alice?"

"No, even though she is my sister, I can see your point now!"

Ebony's eyes fluttered open to see Salene bending over her on one side, holding a cold cloth to her forehead, and Jack and Lex on her other side, watching anxiously. Behind the boys stood Alice, holding Hope, and the other girl who had arrived with Jack and Hope. At least the other girl wasn't Jetta, that was a start, but what reason could she have for travelling all this way with Jack? Ebony sat up and looked around. She was on the bed in Jack's old room.

"Um..." Ebony said, uncertainly, glancing at those around her.

"It's okay," Salene replied to the unasked question. "Ellie and I were the only ones who came out to see what was happening. The others don't know about our new arrivals, yet, or your reaction to them."

"Thanks," Ebony smiled. "Although I wonder how long the latter will last once goldilocks wakes up!"

"It'll last, if she knows what's good for her!" Alice replied.

"How are you feeling?" Lex and Jack asked together before stopping abruptly and glaring at one another.

"A little overwhelmed, actually," Ebony smiled sheepishly and looked down at her swelling stomach.

"Can I get you anything? Water? Some fruit?" Salene shrugged, unsure what to do.

"I'd like a little time alone, if that's okay," Ebony replied, quietly. "Just me and Jack."

"Jack and I," Lex corrected as he got to his feet. "We'll leave you two to catch up then."

"And I guess I should take my annoying little sister with me!" Alice sighed, then turned to address the girl Ebony didn't recognise. "Morgaine, would you do the honours?"

"Certainly," Morgaine replied, kneeling down and scooping Ellie up into her arms. "Where shall we go?"

"Back to Ellie's room," Salene replied, answering for Alice. "It's the same one as before, but she shares it with Luke now."

"I'd heard!" Alice commented, dryly.

"Well, Luke's out just now so we shouldn't be disturbed there until we've got you guys sorted out with the sleeping arrangements. Alice, you're room's still free, and pretty much as you left it, but we'll have to pick out somewhere new for your friend."

"Tai San's room is free," Lex spoke up as they left the room.

"I thought you wanted that kept the same until she came back?" Salene frowned.

"I don't think she's coming back, Sal," Lex replied. "If I thought she was still out there somewhere, I wouldn't have... Well, never mind. It doesn't matter. Not any more. I'll go start clearing out the room."

The girls watched as Lex headed off in the direction of Tai San's room, then started towards the stairs, carrying Ellie with them.

Back in Jack's room, the couple listened as the sounds of their friends' footsteps and conversation died away into silence.

"So," said Jack, moving to sit on the edge of his old bed and covering Ebony's small hand with his own. "Where do we go from here?"


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"He what!"

Jack's voice rose in crescendo as Ebony finally explained the scene he had observed as he arrived in the Mall. They had spent the best part of the day just talking over what had happened in the past four months: Ebony's reaction to his sudden departure; the hidden valley of the Amazons; Ebony's vision of Bray and return to the mall; Jetta's illness; Ebony's discovery of her pregnancy; Hope's growing attachment to her father's hair; KC and Salene's arrivals; Jetta's death and funeral; Ebony's treatment by Ellie and the other Mallrats; Jack, Alice and Morgaine's journey to the city with Hope; Lex's proposal. There had been a lot to talk about, there still was, but this last revelation was the one that had thrown Jack off balance.

"He just wanted the chance to be a dad," Ebony explained rising to her feet and stepping towards Jack. "You know how Lex is about kids."

"Not as much as you do, obviously!" Jack took a step back.

"What does that mean?" Ebony heard her own voice rise indignantly.

"Just that you two seem to have got pretty close while I was gone. Much closer than you were when I left!"

"But you did just that, didn't you, Jack?" The old warrior queen started to show through as Ebony's tone became icy. "You left! You disappeared one night four months ago then showed up today expecting what exactly? That I had sat here waiting for you, not letting anyone else anywhere near me, not talking to anyone? There is nothing between Lex and myself other than friendship. He was there when I needed him, as was Paul and, lately, Salene. You weren't!"

"Yeah and he certainly made use of the fact!"

"How dare you!" Ebony yelled, slapping Jack hard across the face so that he reeled back, blinking. "You _abandoned_ me! You left in the night! Then a month or so later I figure out I'm carrying your child. Not only this, but I'm stuck here in this mall with goldilocks and the three bores, a mad tree-hugger and a variety of other oddballs who can't stand the sight of me. I have three people here who can actually stand to be around me and you want to deny me them? How dare you? What right do you think you have? I thought you were dead! I thought you were gone for good and I would have to bring up _your_ child on my own in a mall full of enemies in a city where I can't be sure it's even safe to go outside! Then you come back here, surrounded by women I might add, like nothing has happened, and _you_ get angry at _me_ for having friends! One of whom is so _noble_ he offered to try and put right what _you_ messed up!"

"There is _nothing_ noble about Lex!"

"Get out," Ebony's voice dropped to a low, venomous hiss. "I can't talk to you right now. I can't even look at you!"

"What?" Jack started forwards, confused, grabbing Ebony's arm as she turned away.

"Get OUT!" Ebony yelled, pushing him away from her and turning her back on him as he fell to the floor.

Jack scrambled to his feet and left the room, rage still colouring his face. Maybe he'd been a little harsh, but he knew Lex as the guy who'd pushed him around as a kid, made fun of him, broken his inventions and stolen anything he thought he could sell. Now he was after Ebony and Ebony didn't seem to mind. The scene he'd witnessed as he'd walked into the mall played though his mind over and over again. What if he hadn't spoken up then? Would she have accepted his offer? If Jetta had lived just a little longer, or if he had gone to Liberty first, would he have come back to find them happily married and planning to raise his child together. From what he had seen so far, it looked like they were already planning that at least. Even if she had turned him down first time, how long would it have taken her to give in and marry him? Was that even the first time? He hadn't heard Lex propose as such, but Ebony had caught his drift fairly quickly. Had they been talking about this before? Had he gradually been wearing her down? Persuading her that he, Jack, was dead and would never return? Was that why she had sounded so sure there was something to 'replace'? He stormed into the cafe still in a rage and headed straight for Lex as he stood introducing Morgaine to Amber and Jay.

Morgaine was the first of the small group to see Jack heading for them. Seeing the look on his face, she nudged Lex. The ex-sherrif half-turned just in time to see Jack's fist heading for him. Lex ducked and Morgaine stepped back, but Jay wasn't quick enough and Jack's blow caught the taller man on the chin, flooring him. Amber, standing on Jay's other side, let out a small scream and passed her son to Trudy before crouching to check on an unconscious Jay. Morgaine, quicker than most, captured Jack in an arm lock that forced him to his knees. As the storm cleared, Jack's face regained its usual colour and he bit his lip as he saw Amber leaning over Jay.

"S-sorry," he said quietly.

"Sorry doesn't quite cover it Jack!" Amber snapped. "You can't just walk in from nowhere and start punching people!"

"I wasn't aiming for him!" Jack's voice lowered to a growl and he winced as he felt Morgaine twist his arm a little more. "Okay, okay, I'll behave! Let me up!"

Morgaine let go, but made sure she positioned herself between Jack and Lex. Alice flung a cup of water on Jay's face and the blonde man spluttered and woke up.

"Jack!" Jay cried, noticing the red-haired young man for the first time. "You're back!"

****

"The queen bids you halt your attack, sire," the hooded messenger cried hurriedly as he entered the darkened building.

"The queen dares to give _me_ an order?"

Firelight sparkled off the enthroned figure's rectangular glasses. He crossed his legs, lazily propping one ankle on the other knee and leaning back in his chair. The messenger could see the movement of his hands as he gestured servants away before steepling his fingers and continuing in the calm, drawling tones he had always used.

"And what," he said, emphasising the latter word carefully, "could be _so_ important that she risked sending _you_ out before dark? I hope you have been careful: I wouldn't want to have to sacrifice you to retain our cover here."

"I was careful sire," the messenger affirmed, "The queen sent me to say that circumstances at the mall have changed _drastically_. _He_ has returned, bringing with him one our queen knows to be a strong fighter and one who is unknown to her, but was introduced to her as a skilled warrior of a tribe known as the Amazons."

"Have you heard of this tribe before?"

"Yes, sire. They are strong, even those not counted as warriors. If this woman is who she claims to be, she poses a great threat. Our queen suggests a distraction, something to take the mallrats away from the mall - split their forces."

"Divide and conquer. Your queen was taught well. What does she suggest?"

"Loyalty amongst the Mallrats is both their greatest strength and greatest weakness, as our queen well knows. She suggests we distract them by removing one of their own. The constant raids around the city will ensure that it is the stronger fighters who are included in the search party while the weaker ones are left within the defences of the mall."

"A kidnapping. Good. Does our queen have a preferred target?"

"There is a child who has recently arrived at the mall - _his_ child - and is as yet unused to the other Mallrats. In addition, they are also unfamiliar with the child. Her father will be distracted with the renegade for the next few days. Our queen suggests that we kidnap the child while she is being watched by someone other than her father. She would prefer to be there herself at the time, but cannot be sure of this being the case. She suggests the sewer entrance as the weakest point. Apparently the Mallrats have been taking it in turns to patrol it as there is a problem with the alarm on it, however they are becoming lax about this as the raids move further from the mall."

"Good. Our queen has done well. Watch the child's movements closely tomorrow and return with the details. We will discuss this more tomorrow. The kidnapping will take place the day after."

"Will there be anything else, sire?"

"No," the glasses glinted as the young man unfolded his limbs and rose to his feet. "That will be all, Luke."


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"What's wrong with him?" Alice asked as she and Ellie sat in the cafe, watching Pride mumble to himself as he fiddled with bits of paper and string.

"He's nuts!" Ellie replied, sulkily, glowering at her mug of tea.

"Well, they say you are what you eat...!"

"He went weird a while back. I don't know what caused it."

"And the others? I hear Ebony's not the only one expecting!"

"Yeah, Amber's a few months gone herself. Everything seems to happen at once round here! First Amber announces she's pregnant, then May and Pride have this huge fight on the roof and May storms down here, packs a bag and leaves, then Pride starts going bananas 'cause she's left. Jay stops talking to Amber, even though she keeps reminding him she's carrying his child, or maybe because of it! KC turns up and Trudy seems convinced he's Bray! Ebony turns up with Lex and that other guy, Paul, and tells us she's had some near death experience thing and Bray came to her and told her he was dead, but she had to go on living. All these raids kick off and now they're getting worse, although they do seem to be moving away from here, which is good! Then, not long after the raids started, Sal turned up and last but not least you wander back in here with my AWOL ex-boyfriend, the daughter we never knew he had and some woman who looks like Lex and every woman he's ever dated all rolled into one!"

"I hear Luke came back," Alice pressed, "You never mentioned him."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, we got married."

"You could try and sound a little happier about it!"

"About what? We got married. That's it. All there is to tell."

"You're bored."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are, Ellie. Either you're bored with Luke in general or just with being married to him. I remember how it was when you two first got together, before you dumped Jack might I add! Back then, the two of you were sneaking around, trying not to get caught by either the other Mallrats or the Chosen, then when Jack came back you were sneaking around behind his back. Now you're a legitimate, married couple and everybody knows about you. The fun's gone out of it: you're not sneaking around any more."

"Well, maybe," Ellie shrugged. "But never mind that now. What about you: why didn't you come back?"

Alice shifted uncomfortably as Pride chattered in the background.

"Oh, um, I had my reasons," the older sister looked down at her hands as she spoke.

"And they were?"

"Uh..."

"Here little birdie: fly!" Pride chattered as he threw his paper and string 'bird' through the air.

The sad looking contraption sailed haphazardly around the room then crash-landed onto Alice's clasped hands. Alice looked up and rolled her eyes at her little sister, secretly glad of the interruption.

"Excuse me," she said, standing up.

Picking up the paper bird, Alice walked over to where Pride was watching eagerly.

"Is it time for another flight?" Pride asked the limp, featureless article in Alice's hand.

"No, Pride," Alice sighed, forcing a saccharine smile, shifting the bird to her other hand and balling her fist. "It's time for beddie-byes!"

When the crazed Gaian hit the floor, Alice let the paper bird fall to lie by its creator.

"Uh, was that a good idea?" Ellie asked, walking up behind Alice.

"He'll wake up, eventually. Might have a bit of a sore jaw, but that's all. Never know, might actually have knocked some sense back into him!"

"Yeah..." Ellie frowned as her sister turned to walk out of the room. "I guess..."

****

"What news, Luke?"

His cool, calm voice drifted across her as he, her lover, her king, her idol, talked with his messenger. The iciness with which he ordered Luke to make things ready for the kidnapping sent shivers of excitement down her back. It was almost laughable: the great Mallrats, the tribe that had for years been the heart of the city, brought low by their own. It had taken someone of her king's greatness to see how it could be done.

She had done her best to comply with his wishes in this as well as in all his... desires. She had recruited the Queen herself. She had programmed her herself. The Queen: a pawn with which to checkmate the enemy. She believed herself in love with their king. Understandable. She also believed that he loved her. Not so. Their king was incapable of love. Not in the way the Queen knew it. No. In every monarchy, every empire, the power behind the leader is not in his Queen, but his Mistress. It is she who gives him what he truly needs. A queen may seem to hold power, but does so in name only. A queen has power over all those beneath her, but the king's mistress has power even over the king himself.

"Then we are ready," he concluded. "We will make our move at the allotted time and you, Luke, will ensure that no suspicion falls upon our Queen."

"I will, my liege," Luke replied.

As Luke disappeared from the room, leaving only the usual servants, standing as motionless as statues, the king's mistress stood and walked over to his chair. Standing behind him, she kneaded the tense muscles in his shoulders.

"You worry too much, my king," she said quietly. "I know your mind: you fear that Luke will fail us."

"He has much to lose once this is complete. Everything depends on his love for our queen being greater than his loyalty to his fellow Mallrats."

"When it is complete, and our queen stands beside you, will he not regret his decision?"

"No. I have talked with him in private. He and the Queen will remain lovers. As I have you, so she will have him."

"You are generous, my liege."

"Merely prudent. They would attempt to continue their relationship even without my consent. This way, I retain my hold over them and keep them both happy and, therefore, loyal."

The mistress' hands slid down the king's chest and she leaned forward until her lips were level with his ear.

"The thrill of the hunt runs through you, my liege. It will overpower you if you are not careful."

"And how do you suggest I control it?"

"Divert it's energies elsewhere," she purred, moving round to take his hand and lead him to his feet. "But not in front of these servants."

****

Another day dawned in the mall and Jack woke feeling as if he had never left. From the cafe he could hear Ellie's familiar whine and smiled as he pictured Luke taking the beating instead of him. He cast a glance over to the child's cot in the corner. Hope lay sleeping, peacefully, an old blanket grasped tightly in her small fist.

Jack dragged himself out of bed and pulled on some clothes. First, he would have to wake his daughter and take her to get some breakfast, then he would pass Hope's care on to Salene while he got his own breakfast and went in search of Ebony, who had refused to talk to him since their fight the day before. Alice and Salene usually took it in turns to help look after Hope. Yesterday, at dinner, Alice had suggested that Ellie or Trudy share the burden, but Luke had reminded her that young children need stability and it would be better to stick to the same routine and the same small group of carers until Hope was older. Trudy had been about to protest, but had changed her mind after glance at Luke.

His own morning ablutions complete, Jack turned to his daughter. Picking her up, he prised the blanket from her hand, only to have the tiny fist wave around, looking for another stronghold, then grab his nose. Even once he had finally got her little pink dress on, Hope still slept on, so, cradling her in his arms, he took her up to the cafe as she was.

Salene was already there and welcomed the sleeping bundle into her arms while Jack got himself some toast and tea.

"She's so like her father," Salene murmured, smoothing down the unruly, fine brown hair that was darkening every day.

"You think?" Jack chuckled, proudly, sitting down at the table next to Sal, Lex, Morgaine and Alice.

"Yeah, mate," Lex added with a smile. "I mean just look at her, sleeping through this racket!"

"Doesn't that make her more like you, Lex?" Alice laughed.

Jack smiled a half smile and avoided Lex's gaze.

"Look, Jack," Lex started, leaning forwards across the table. "I swear, nothing ever happened between us. Yes, I was there for her. Yes, I helped her through some stuff. But as a friend, nothing more. She wouldn't let me be anything more!"

"Yeah," Jack replied, sheepishly. "I-I guess I over-reacted a bit. Sorry."

"No worries!" Lex laughed. "It was worth it to see that ponce Jay get floored like that!"

"You don't like him?" Morgaine asked.

"Not so much, no," Lex replied.

"Any reasons why?" Morgaine's low tones rolled across the breakfast table with only the merest hint of amusement. "Or should we just put it down to the first ever case of male intuition?"

"I just don't take kindly to being ordered around by a guy who only ever seems to fight battles from a distance!"

"Sometimes it is the best place to fight them from: it lets you see the bigger picture."

"You sound like my wife!"

"I am sorry. I didn't mean draw forth unhappy memories."

"Don't be. They're not unhappy ones. And it was a complement anyway."

"You are a very odd man, Alexander."

"Don't call me that. No one calls me that. Just call me Lex."

"I think I'll take Hope back down," Jack cut in, seeing Salene's attention wander from Hope as the conversation went on. "If she's not woken up yet, she can't be hungry."

"It's okay, I'll take her," Salene's attention snapped back to the child in her arms. "You should really go talk with Ebony anyway. I think I saw her head for the roof."

"The roof? You don't think..."

"Oh, no, she wouldn't. I think she just wanted some air and some peace and quiet. It's much safer up there than outside."

"True. I'll go after her then, if you're sure."

"It's okay. Honest, Jack, you know how much I love looking after kids! I just wish I had some of my own!"

"Someday you will have."

Jack headed out of the cafe and up towards the roof. Salene watched him go, then turned back to the conversation with Lex, Alice and Morgaine. When they had finished their food, by now cold, Lex suggested that he and Alice show Morgaine round the market.

"What about the raids?" Salene asked, frowning at Lex.

"They've been moving over to the other side of the city," Lex shrugged, "We'll be fine! You've got Luke and Jack and Ryan and Mr Ken Doll here to keep an eye on the place while we're gone. Oh, and Pride, if he's come round yet. Besides, it's not like we're three helpless babes, Sal!"

Lex's eyes unfocussed a little, when he finished speaking, and the slight smile of a daydream spread across his face until Alice punched him on the arm and demanded that he "get moving". Salene watched them go with a slight smile then, as silence descended on the now empty cafe, turned her attention back to Hope once more.

"Looks like it's just you and me, little girl," she crooned. "What shall we do? Shall we go and see what Auntie Salene has in her room? Shall we? Oh yes, we shall! Oh yes, we shall!"

****

Jack found Ebony on the roof, standing looking out across the city. From the way she held her coat close around her, he could tell she was still angry. He found a comfortable piece of wall to lean against and settled down to wait. He'd made no effort to conceal his presence and he was certain she knew he was there, but he still jumped when, without turning round, she called his name.

"I know you're there," she continued. "I heard the door close."

"I figured I'd best stay out of reach for a while."

"You were right to."

For a while longer there was silence. Jack waited for Ebony to speak again. Eventually, he heard what sounded like a sob.

"Hold me," Ebony cried, her body doubling up as she crumpled to the ground in tears.

Jack hurried forwards and gathered her into his arms, holding her close for what seemed like the first time in years. As he kissed her hair, her forehead, her tears, he heard her laugh a little, as if at her own ironic weakness.

"This doesn't mean you're forgiven, you know," she told him.

"I know," Jack replied as she rested her head on his chest.

For what could have been minutes or hours, they sat there in silence. Clinging onto one another as if afraid that one letting go would mean losing the other forever. From their vantage point on the roof they could hear the sounds of the city wafting up from the streets below. The noise had almost disappeared into the background when they heard the scream.

"Who was that!" Ebony cried, leaning on Jack's arm as he helped her to her feet.

"Salene," Jack replied, his face paling.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Ebony asked, seeing his sudden change.

"Sh-she was looking after Hope. Sh-she wouldn't wake up this morning. I-I thought she w-was just sleeping! What if... What if..."

"Don't!" Ebony yelled at him. "Let's just go down and see what all the noise it about. She's probably just seen a rat!"

Dragging a panicking Jack behind her, Ebony hurried down the stairs to the main part of the mall. When they reached the fountain, they saw Amber and Ryan bending over an unconscious Jay while Ellie and Luke helped a shaking Salene to her feet. Trudy stood a distance away, trying to calm down Brady.

"Wh-where is she?" Jack asked, walking past Ebony to Salene. "Wh-where's my daughter? Where's Hope? Where is she, Sal?"

"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry!" Salene said, her voice shaking with tears. "They took her!"


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"It's okay Sal, it wasn't your fault," Lex whispered into the red-haired girl's ear as they sat alone in her room.

"But I-I couldn't stop them!" Salene cried, tearfully. "They just barged right in here. I-I screamed a-and Jay came running, but they just knocked him out and ran off with her!"

"That doesn't make it your fault! I was the one who took Alice and Morgaine out into the city leaving the mall with hardly anyone in it; if it's anyone's fault it's mine!"

"You couldn't have known."

"Neither could you. Come on Sal, I know how much you care about kids. If there was anything you could have done, you would have done it. In this case, there just wasn't anything you _could_ do. Nobody blames you."

"Jack does."

"That's rubbish! The little geek is crazier than I thought if he thinks anything of the kind!"

****

"It wasn't her fault, Jack!" Alice yelled at the young father as she pinned his arms to his side. "Now calm down!"

"My daughter is missing! How can I calm down, Alice? What am I supposed to do? Sit down, take deep breaths and count to ten! I left my daughter with someone I thought she would be safe with and when I come back downstairs I find Hope is gone and Salene doesn't have a scratch on her. She can hardly have put up much of a fight!"

"She was unconscious when we got there!" Ellie cut in. "Just because you can't see any damage, doesn't mean there isn't any there!"

"We have to organise this calmly, Jack," Amber said, firmly, from across the room. "There aren't that many of us left now. If we're going to mount a search for Hope we have to know where everyone is and who's doing what. If you can't calm down for that, then I'll have Alice lock you in the cage until you do!"

"She's _MY_ daughter!" Jack yelled.

"And you're no use to her like this!"

"I _have_ to get out there and look for her Amber! I-I _have_ to. I'm all she's got! I..."

Jack suddenly sunk to his knees, clutching his chest and gasping for air.

"What the...!" Alice cried, dropping to her knees to support Jack.

Morgaine rushed forward.

"What is it!" Ellie cried, hurrying up to her sister's side.

"Get back, don't crowd him," Morgaine ordered, her tone level and commanding.

"Jack?" Ebony's voice was quiet, almost timid, and the hubbub around her drowned out her words.

"Alice, support him. Give him air, everybody. It'll pass."

Morgaine's words echoed around in Ebony's head and the room became a blur. For a moment, she thought that she was going to pass out again, but then she felt a strong arm steadying her and looked round to see Pride holding her upright.

"You look as though you need to sit down," the Gaian said gently.

"What's wrong with him?" Ebony asked, dazedly, as Pride steered her to a nearby chair.

"I don't know," Pride replied. "But if you wait here, I'll go find out."

The crown around Jack had dispersed a little, but were still focussed on him and didn't notice Pride's arrival until the tall man made his way through the crowd and knelt down beside Morgaine.

"Do you know what is causing this?" Pride asked, ignoring the sudden lull in conversation and numerous pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Yes," Morgaine replied, her voice remaining level. "Our healer warned me that this might occur and gave me instructions in the event that it should do so."

"Do you need anything?"

"Only room to work and considerably fewer aggravations for the patient!"

"Okay."

The occupants of the cafe watched in silence as Pride stood up and turned to face them. He saw the mixture of emotions that played across their faces: shock, relief, distrust... hate. Taking in the mixture of people around him, and the situation as he had heard it from his place by the door, he decided on a course of action and immediately began deploying searchers.

"We work in pairs," he said, ignoring Jay's eyes boring into the side of his head. "Ryan, KC: you two take the sewers. See if you can pick up any trail there or on the outside. Luke, Jay: you two take north and east of the Mall. Alice and I will take south and west. In three hours we come back here and switch. Lex and Salene can be one pair, that leaves Amber, Ellie, Paul and Jack himself if he's recovered by then. The rest of you stay here and guard the mall. That way there will always be a decent number of us here in case they return or in case anyone comes back with news."

"Who made you sergeant-major?" Jay spat from beside Amber.

"Jay, leave it," Amber said, quickly putting a hand on her lover's arm. "Pride's right and he's only doing what I was trying to do earlier."

"Will you be okay here on your own?"

"Of course I'll be okay. And I'm not on my own, am I. I've got half the tribe around me!"

"Okay then."

Jay kissed Amber lightly on the forehead before shooting another glare at Pride and walking out of the cafe, followed swiftly by Luke. Ryan and KC headed out after them and Pride turned back to Alice.

"Shall we go?" Pride asked, extending a hand to Alice.

"Morgaine?" Alice queried, looking over Jack's head at the Amazon tending him.

"It's okay," Morgaine replied. "I'm sure Ellie here can take Jack's weight until the fit passes."

Alice nodded and let her sister take her place before taking Pride's hand and letting him help her to her feet.

"I believe I owe you a debt of gratitude," Pride said to her as they walked out of the mall.

"Oh?" Alice frowned. "What for?"

"Knocking me back to sanity!"

****

"There," Morgaine said, dabbing the wet cloth across Jack's forehead. "It's passing. You should feel better soon."

Jack just nodded, still a little breathless.

"What _was_ that?" Amber asked from her seat at the same table as Ebony.

A glance passed between Jack and Morgaine. Morgaine raised an eyebrow. Jack shrugged.

"Just a minor seizure of sorts," Morgaine called over her shoulder. "Our healer told me to watch out for them. Apparently Jack here got some sort of fever from a snake bite some months ago. He was given the anti-venom in time to save him, but the effect of the fever has left some scars on him, albeit unseen ones. If he overdoes it too much, it makes it worse and, if he gets himself into the state he was just in, he has an attack. Every time it happens, it gets worse. That's why I was sent to try and keep him out of trouble."

Jack rolled his eyes and pulled a face.

"The worst damage is to his coronary muscles: his heart. These seizures are a bit like mini heart attacks or angina. They are usually unseen in anyone of our ages, but can be brought on by certain infections or poisons, including snakebite. Our healer believes that, if Jack had received a full dose of venom from the snake, rather than the mere scratch he actually got, he would have been dead from heart failure within minutes."

"But if he rests," Ebony cut in, her voice shaking. "It'll get better, right?"

Morgaine sighed and looked up at Jack for confirmation. With a resigned look, he nodded and looked down. Morgaine turned round to face Ebony and Amber.

"No," she said, solemnly. "I'm afraid it won't."


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Perhaps it's time we headed back," Jay suggested, looking around him as he spoke..

Luke glanced at his watch, then at the sky.

"Yeah, it'll be dark soon and it'll take us the rest of the time to get back to the mall."

"I don't know that I like the idea of Lex and Sal going back out when we go back though," the blonde man said as they turned in the direction of the mall. "They've been out once today and it's dangerous out of the mall after dark."

"Don't you mean more dangerous?" Luke asked as the two walked side by side. "Besides, you won't keep Sal in the mall if she's determined to get out. She's safer if she goes with Lex."

"I guess."

****

"Would you have returned?" Pride asked. "If Jack hadn't turned up, would you have stayed there or would you have come back to us eventually?"

"I don't know," Alice replied. "What about you? Will you ever go back to the Gaians?"

"Maybe, one day."

The two walked on in companionable silence for a while, each scanning the streets to either side, until Alice suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Pride asked, walking back to her.

"A movement," Alice replied, peering down a shadowy side street. "Down that alley somewhere."

"Worth checking?"

"Maybe... Yes. There's definitely something there."

Leading the way as he would in a forest, Pride crept down the narrow alleyway with Alice following close behind him. About half-way along, there was a section of the ground cut away to lead down a few steps to a still secure fire door. In the slight shelter of the doorway was what first appeared to be a black rubbish bag. The dark bundle shifted slightly, cowering away from the newcomers and trying to appear inconspicuous. Pride reached down and put a hand on the top of the bundle, pulling back a hood to reveal a young boy.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you," the Gaian said, gently.

"Y-You're not with _them_?" the boy asked, hesitantly.

"With who?" Pride asked as Alice glanced over her shoulder and all around her.

"Th-the raiders," the boy said. "They've been round here today. They're taking kids now! Just a little thing she was. Only a couple of years old. I-I saw 'em."

"No," Pride said, his hopes raising. "But we are looking for them - that little girl was from our tribe. Do you know where they went?"

"Went out to the old warehouses by the docks," the boy replied, more readily now. "I heard 'em complain about 'em. One of the girls. Said they're all cold and stink of fish. All apart from _his_!"

"Whose?"

"I dunno," the boy shrugged. "It's just what she said. I didn't hear no more. I ran when I heard 'em."

"That's okay, that really helps. Here," Pride reached round and took a small loaf of bread and some fruit out of his pack. "If you need anything you will be welcome in the mall."

"I don't go near city centre now," the boy said, taking the food. "Too many people. Thanks though."

Pride and Alice turned and headed out of the alleyway. They didn't speak until they reached the open street and even then it was only to agree to return to the mall before going to the docks.

"We'd need at least some of the others anyway," Alice reasoned.

They made good time on their journey home and reached the mall about the same time as Jay and Luke. Jay called the tribe together in the cafe and Pride and Alice recounted their story. When they had finished, there was a general uproar of outrage, questions and suggestions. Jay tried to pacify the group, but it was Pride's voice that cut through the babble and regained order. Jay glowered at the Gaian as he once again took charge where the ex-techno general could not.

"We'll take a small group of our best fighters," Pride explained. "Try to sneak in, then out again with the minimum of disturbance. We don't know how many fighters this group has, so we can't afford to go for a full attack. Morgaine, Alice has been telling me much of your fighting skills. I would like you to accompany us on this mission."

The Amazon warrior nodded regally and ignored the slight grumble of hurt pride from a nearby Lex. The Gaian observed her acceptance and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Lex, Alice, Jay and myself will also be going along. The rest of you will stay here to look after the mall. It's still not certain that this new group, whoever they are, will not come back when they think our forces are weakened. I know Ebony and Amber are normally good enough fighters to take care of this place, but for now they are out of commission. Trudy has Brady to look after, also. Gel, Sammy and Mouse don't have enough experience. That leaves KC, Salene and Ryan, all of whom are good fighters, and Luke, Ellie and Jack."

"Hey!" Ellie cried, indignantly.

"Ellie, you couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag!" Jack replied before turning to Pride. "I'm going with you."

"Jack, you've already proven yourself not to be in the best of health and, if I remember correctly, your fighting skills are mainly verbal!"

"And technological. If they have an alarm system, I can take it out. Much quicker than Jay could too."

"You're still not fit for this, especially if it does get nasty!"

"Then I'll take a spare laser! Jay let me study them when the Technos were still around. I have a couple in my room. They should work okay."

"I don't think it's wise..."

"Pride, Hope is MY daughter!" Jack yelled. "I am going with you, like it or not!"

"Fine," the Gaian replied, sternly. "But when we're there, you do as I say. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Jack shrugged grudgingly.

"Then let's go. Get what you need and meet me by the fountain ASAP."

The five chosen followed Pride out of the room, filing off to their rooms to retrieve weapons and warmer clothing. Within five minutes, the group was gathered at the Phoenix fountain, the rest of their tribe surrounding them.

"I don't like this," Ebony said to Jack quietly. "Something's not right."

"It's okay," Jack reassured her. "We'll all be back soon and we'll have Hope with us."

"I'm just scared I'm not gonna see you again," Ebony looked up into Jack's eyes, earnestly willing him to smile and tell her if it mattered so much, he wouldn't go with them.

"I'm coming back. I promise."

"Just try and make it sooner than four months this time, right?"

"Right," Jack replied, kissing Ebony on the forehead before kneeling down and kissing her small bump and whispering: "I'll be home soon baby."

"I love you," Ebony whispered when he stood up again.

"I love you too," Jack replied.

"This doesn't mean you're forgiven, you know."

"I know."

Ebony watched as the group left the mall and Luke began lowering the grill behind them. The other mallrats behind her turned to head back up the stairs to their rooms. Ryan headed off to check the sewer entrance.

Ebony turned towards Jack's room and headed straight for the CD player next to the old two-way radio he had tried to contact adults with so many years ago. Flicking through his collection of CD's she found the one she was looking for and fitted it into the machine. Sitting back she closed her eyes and tried to imagine, as she had so many lonely times before, that Jack was there before her singing the song himself.

_Sure I know you'd like to have me_

_Talk about my future_

_And a million words or so to fill you in about my past_

_Have I sisters or a brother?_

_When's my birthday? How's my mother?_

_Well my dear in time I'll answer all those things you've asked_

_But for now, I'll just say I love you_

_Nothing more seems important somehow_

_And tomorrow can wait, come whatever_

_Let me love you forever but right now_

_Right now._

_Some fine day when we go walking_

_We'll take time for idle talking_

_Sharing every feeling as we watch each other smile_

_I'll hold your hand, you'll hold my hand_

_We'll say things we never had planned_

_Then we'll get to know each other in a little while._

_But for now, let me say I love you_

_Later on there'll be time for so much more_

_But for now, meaning now and forever_

_Let me kiss you my darling then once more_

_Once more_

Ebony felt herself drifting off to sleep as the music played. The chatter of restless voices from the upper level disappearing into the instrumental.

_But for now, let me say I love you_

_Later on I must know much more of you_

_But for now, here and now, how I love you_

_As you are in my arms I love you_

_I love you_

_I love you_

****

It took them an hour to reach the dockland warehouses and, when they got there, it was clearly obvious which one was inhabited.

"Doesn't look like they've got an alarm system," Jay said, quietly, regaining some of his command by scouting round the building. "And I heard a young child crying at the far end. There was a girl complaining that the kid wouldn't sleep."

"She never does at this time," Jack replied. "She never settles down until almost midnight and with all this going on, probably later."

"Well, with Hope awake, nobody in that warehouse will be getting much rest either," Morgaine observed. "It would be prudent to wait until there was at least a chance they were sleeping."

"There's at least half an hour to midnight," Pride replied. "And as Jack says, the disturbance to her normal routine could keep Hope awake for hours. I would rather not wait that long. How many do you think there are, Jay?"

"I don't know. Not a huge crowd, anyway. A dozen, twenty at most."

"I say we go in there and take 'em out then," Lex cut in.

"You realise that's a little more than three of them to each of us, Lex," Morgaine chided.

"Yeah, but we've got three of these," he replied, holding up one of the techno lasers, "That should even the odds a bit."

"He's right," Alice told her friend. "I've seen what those can do. In the right hands they're very effective."

"And in the wrong hands?" Morgaine queried. "Do we have three people who can use them?"

"We have two," Jay replied. "Myself and Jack. I'll take two, I've trained with them. Jack can take the other one. He'll need an arm free for Hope anyway."

"That's right," Pride agreed. "Listen Jack, you agreed to do what I asked when we got here and this is what I ask you to do: when we go in there, you get to Hope and you get her out. We'll follow as soon as we can, but you would only be a double hindrance if you stay. You are here for your daughter. Once you have her, you leave. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Jack frowned.

Everything went according to plan. There were only fifteen in the room and the girl looking after Hope. Jack grabbed Hope and ran from the room, returning to the shaded area where they had agreed to meet if all went well. Not long after, his five companions joined him, Lex limping from a cut on his lower leg. Morgaine bound up the cut with a bandage from the small pack she always carried and the group headed back to the mall.

Silence and darkness greeted them as they approached the grill. Unheeding, Jay stepped forward to raise the mall's main defence, reaching through one of the small gaps in the grill to activate the secret lock Jack had set up there years before, after the Chosen invasion, to allow access from the outside should any Mallrat be locked out. It was a well kept secret. Only Jack himself and the past and present leaders of the Mallrats knew of its existence, and Lex of course.

"It's open!" Jay exclaimed in surprise, withdrawing his hand.

"Something's not right," said Pride.

Jay glanced at the Gaian, who returned his worried gaze. Together, they reached down to pull the grill up. As they did so, a shape, propped up by the grill itself, fell out fo the darkness and landed on Lex's foot. The sheriff jumped away and yelled out involuntarily. Morgaine removed another item from the folds of her coat and flicked on a small flashlight. It's beam came to rest on the blood covered, lifeless face of KC.

"Oh no," Jack exclaimed, panic creeping into his voice. "Ebony..."

"Woah," Alice caught him. "Let Jay get the lights first."

It only took Jay a minute to find the switches for the various lights that illuminated the atrium of the mall at night, but to Jack and the others if felt like an hour. When the lights did come on, nothing they saw made any of them them feel any better.


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N:** My thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this along the way, especially thesecret21 and KaKaVegeGurl. Your comments are much appreciated and encourage me to write more. The third instalment of the series, Blame It On My Youth, is about a third of the way through at present. I will be posting it on here, glitches permitting, from tomorrow onwards, chapter by chapter.

Thanks again to everyone reading. I hope you stick with the series. Here's the final chapter of How Sweet It Is.

* * *

**Chapter 21**

The interior of the mall looked as though a bomb had hit it. If it hadn't been for the fact that the ceiling, walls, stairway and fountain were still intact, Jack would have thought that was exactly what had happened. Chairs and tables had been flung down from the cafe at the top of the stairs and clothes, bed linen, books and other personal items had been cast uncaringly out of the bedrooms.

The group stood in stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity, Lex kneeling by the fallen body of KC and scanning the room for any sign of the others. Jay was the first to break the silence.

"Amber," he muttered before raising his voice to shout: "Amber! Amber, where are you?"

The others also began calling for their comrades: Jack for Ebony; Alice for Ellie and Luke; Pride for the younger children; and Lex for Ryan, Salene, Trudy and Brady. Morgaine looked about her, checking the area, before moving KC's body into the mall and closing the grill.

The first clue came with the sound of a young child arguing in hushed tones. Pride followed the sound to its source and found Mouse and Sammy huddled in a corner, Sammy trying to get Mouse to stay quiet.

"I _told_ him it was you!" Mouse exclaimed, proudly, when she saw Pride's face.

"It might not have been!" Sammy retorted, releasing his hold on the young girl and squaring up for another debate.

"Mouse, Sammy," Pride held up his hands to try and calm them. "What happened here?"

The distraction achieved its aim and, at once, both children quietened. Mouse hid her face in her knees and Sammy looked at his feet.

"Sammy?" Pride insisted. "I won't be angry. I just need to know what happened. Where is everyone?"

"I'm not sure," the boy replied, stifling sobs. "Everything happened so quickly. Gel told us to hide in here. Amber and Trudy took Ebony and the babies away somewhere upstairs. There was lots of fighting - I could hear it - and then there were these weird noises and then everything went quiet."

Pride looked round to Jack, Jay and Alice who had congregated behind him.

"Check upstairs," he told them. "There's a secret panel in Amber's room. They'll have gone there. It's behind where the wardrobe usually stands."

Jack hurried off up the stairs, Hope in his arms, but Jay lingered, frowning at Pride suspiciously.

"How do you..." the ex-Techno began.

"Not now, Jay," Alice cut in, turning him around and pushing him in the direction of the stairs. "Let's go and find Amber and the others first."

As the two followed Jack up the stairs, Pride stood up and turned to face Morgaine, who was walking towards him looking even sterner than usual.

"Lex is down by the sewer entrance," she said, quietly. "You should go to him. There is something you need to see. I will stay with the children."

Pride nodded and headed off to the sewers. When he reached the entrance, he saw Lex huddled over a crumpled form. Hearing the Gaian approach, the sheriff passed a hand over his eyes and stood up. Pride retched when he saw the headless corpse lying beside the sewer entrance. Lex stood, silently, waiting for him to regain control of his senses.

"Who?" Pride asked, turning to face Lex.

"Paul," Lex replied, his voice shaking slightly; even in the dull light around them, Pride could see the pallor of Lex's face increase as he spoke, whether with rage, grief or horror he could not tell.

"We'll move him to the basement," Pride decided after a moment's silence. "It's colder there and the kids are less likely to find him. Then we'll bring KC down too."

"Yeah," Lex replied, tersely.

Working with grim concentration, the two men moved the body of their fallen friend the short distance into the basement. Lex remained silent and stone-faced as they covered the body with an old sheet then proceeded up the stairs to collect KC's body and ferry it down to their makeshift morgue.

"Did you find anyone else?" Pride asked as they returned to the phoenix fountain.

"No," Lex answered, his words clipped and controlled, shaking his head. "No, no more of ours and none of theirs. I didn't even see any blood anywhere but..."

"Me neither," Pride cut in as Lex's voice trailed off.

As the two men reached the cafe, where Jay, Amber and Alice sat with Mouse, Sammy, Brady, Hope and baby Bray waited in morose silence, they heard a cry of anguish arise from the direction of Amber's room.

"Ebony!" Lex cried, starting to run toward the cries.

"No!" Pride's hand caught Lex and jerked him back. "If there is nothing these others can do, then there is nothing you can do. Jack, Morgaine and Trudy are with her. I will go and see if they need anything more."

"But..."

"Think, Lex: we've established that the enemy, whoever they may be, have gone and that they didn't find the girls or children. If they didn't cause Ebony any physical harm, what do you suppose is causing her the pain she is in now?"

Lex's face fell.

"The baby..." he whispered.

"Exactly," Pride said, gently. "Now, please, wait with everyone else. Try and find out what happened. I'll come back as soon as I have any news."

Lex nodded and went to sit down in the cafe opposite where Jay cradled a tearful Amber on his lap. Alice, encumbered with both Hope and Bray, passed Bray over to Lex to look after. Lex looked at Amber, crying into Jay's shoulder as he stroked her long blonde ringlets, and decided that the questions could wait for now. After half an hour of relative silence, Pride and Trudy returned to the room. Trudy, eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep, sat down heavily in the chair Lex had vacated for her and held out her arms to her daughter, picking her up and hugging her tightly. Everyone looked at Pride.

"We've managed to stop the bleeding," he explained. "Ebony should be okay, physically anyway, once she's had time enough to recover and as long as there is no infection."

"And the baby?" Lex asked, watching Pride's face intently.

Words were unnecessary. The Gaian merely shook his head sadly and let his eyes fall to the floor. Amber's head buried itself even further into Jay's shoulder and her body shook with tears. Jay kissed her forehead and lifted her up in his arms.

"Come on," he said. "You need to get some rest. We'll go to my room."

As Jay carried his pregnant girlfriend out of the room, Pride took the seat opposite Trudy, where Lex had sat before. Although deeply upset, Trudy looked up and met his expectant gaze.

"What happened?" Pride asked, simply. "We need to know."

"I-I know," Trudy replied, shakily, glancing down at her daughter, who had now fallen asleep in her lap. "It's just... I don't know, it all happened so fast! One minute everything was fine, the next they were everywhere. They came from everywhere! They must have got the grill open somehow. Ryan told me to get Amber and Ebony and the children away, but we couldn't get out so we hid. We couldn't see Sammy or Mouse anywhere so we had to assume they were already hiding and we shut ourselves in the hidden closet in Amber's room, but Ebony... she was panicking. I've never seen her so scared. She was forcing herself to stay calm in the closet, but she was so scared she was shaking. Then there were noises from downstairs, where the fighting was. Strange noises, like laser fire. Then it was quiet. That's when she really started to panic. Then the pain set in and she cried out and you couldn't see it, but you could smell the blood and you knew, you just knew what was happening and there was nothing we could do... There was nothing we could do."

By now the tears were streaming down Trudy's face. Mouse and Sammy were whispering in a distant corner of the cafe, aware that the adults of this world were talking of things they didn't want to hear. Hope, Bray and Brady slept on, mercifully oblivious to the thick, heavy fog of grief surrounding them. As Trudy's tears began to die away again, Morgaine joined them.

"I have made Ebony as comfortable as I can," she said, leaning back against the wall. "Jack is with her. I thought they needed some time alone."

Pride nodded his head.

"There isn't much more we can do tonight," he sighed. "We are all tired. The immediate danger to the mall has passed and we need some time to decide what to do next. I suggest we all try and get some sleep. Lex and I have already secured the sewer and main entrances. They must have been open before. No-one had tampered with them."

"No," Trudy shook her head. "That can't be. We left Luke locking them up after you all left to get Hope. They must have found a way of opening them from the outside."

"Trudy, there is no way of opening the sewers entrance from the outside," Lex said, sternly. "There is a way to open the grill, but only a few of us know about that, but there is absolutely no way you can open the sewers entrance from the outside, if it is locked."

"But Luke said he'd locked up," Trudy frowned, then shrugged. "Maybe he forgot about it."

Lex looked over at Pride, Alice and Morgaine. They met his gaze with looks that confirmed his own worst fears: maybe he didn't forget; maybe he had deliberately left the two gates open. If they were right, then they had had a traitor in their midst. But Lex himself had looked back and seen Luke lock the grill. So then he could have told them about the secret latch. But how did he know? It seemed that everyone's mind was now on the same track, especially Alice's.

"Ellie," she said. "She must have found out from Jack when he installed the latch, then told Luke."

"She might not have known how he would use the information, Alice," Pride said, soothingly.

"Maybe not," Alice replied. "But her being my sister doesn't mean we can rule out the possibility that she did."

****

Ryan's vision swam into focus. Dazedly, he gazed around the small, dimly lit room, tallying up who was there and who was not. Moonlight glinted off of Ellie's blonde hair, her head resting on Luke's shoulder. In another corner, Gel lay unconscious while Salene rocked back and forth.

"Sal," Ryan called, gently. "Sal, are you okay?"

Salene kept rocking and staring straight ahead. Ryan, thinking that she hadn't heard him, was about to speak again when they door suddenly opened. Bright light flooded the room, blinding Ryan so that he couldn't see who had entered the room. He heard the heavy footsteps and felt himself be dragged to his feet, but couldn't see if he was the only one. As he was marched away up a corridor, he could hear the many sounds of feet marching along behind him suggesting that at least some, if not all, of his companions were accompanying him.

The bright light of the blinding corridors died away suddenly as they emerged into a much darker, firelit room. The smell of the fire hung heavily in the room and, off to one side, Ryan saw a raised platform, like a dais. They were marched before the dais and Ryan felt himself be pushed roughly to his knees. Looking up, he saw the shadowy form of a large, throne-like chair. It was occupied.

Torchbearers walked round the small group, stepping up onto the dais and positioning themselves on either side of the throne. Ryan flinched back as their torches suddenly flared into life, illuminating the face of the throne's occupant. It was a face Ryan did not recognise, but beside him he heard a gasp.

"You!" Ellie cried out from Ryan's left side. "I thought we'd got rid of you!"

"Why, Ellie," Mega drawled. "Didn't you know I was back? And there was me thinking you and Luke shared everything."

"Luke?" Ellie replied, confused. "What?"

Ryan glanced to his side to see Ellie look wildly about her. Her gaze settled on a familiar figure standing just behind her and to her left.

"Luke," she said, addressing the figure. "What's going on?"

"I would have thought that was obvious, Ellie," Mega sighed, impatiently, as he signalled for Luke to join him on the dais. "Luke is on my side now. Well, I say my side. His loyalty lies with my Queen, mainly."

"Your queen?" Ellie spat. "I might have know Java would have a hand in this!"

"So hasty," Mega tutted. "Do you really think I would let Java deal with something as important as this: the destruction of the Mallrats? Java is a bumbler. She was always good at manipulation and... certain other things, but when it came to planning something on such a grand scale as this, it took someone who knew exactly how each and every one of you would react. Someone much closer to home."

Mega held out his left hand and a figure stepped forward from Ryan's far right. Even before she reached the glow of the torches, Ryan knew her and felt his heart break all over again, the same way it had all those years ago when she had betrayed their tribe and tried to make him betray them too; when she had joined the Chosen. It was Salene.

****

Pride stared at the ceiling in his jungle-themed room. Changes were happening: he could sense them like changes in the seasons. This was a change that would affect them all. The question running though his mind though, was: is it the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning?

~Fini~


End file.
